In the city of Cagliari, the current Latin Grand Duke Ramsay Carlo, nicknamed "Red Mane" because his mother's lineage comes from the Khazar nobles of Slavic descent, and his beard and hair are dark red; the representative who just led his subjects, the largest in the city A great mass was said in the Basilica of San Michele.
Immediately afterwards, he delivered a passionate speech on the terrace of the outer corridor of the circular venue of the classical city hall to the soldiers and city residents gathered in the large square in the front courtyard; encouraging them to fight bravely for their integrity and homeland, and to repel the enemy. Invading armies of heretics and despicables.
After receiving an overwhelming response on the spot, he personally went to the outermost wall of the city to inspect the city's preparations for war, and gave various encouragements and promises to the generals and leaders of the garrison, before finally being led into a In the newly built large defensive tower.
Here, you can see the huge continuous fortresses formed overnight outside the city, as well as the siege equipment and troops that have been deployed and ready to go. At this time, Ramsay put down his dignity and solemnity, rubbed his tense eyebrows and said, "When will the empire's reinforcements arrive?"
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not that fast yet." After the accompanying ministers looked at each other, someone cautiously answered: "I have received intelligence from the Byzantines before and persuaded the Imperial Navy to dispatch the Holy Trinity and its attached fleet. It consumed a lot of the principality’s connections and money.”
"Now that the Holy Trinity and its attached fleet have been defeated, especially the loss of the Holy Trinity, it is an unbearable price for the empire; if there is no edict or imperial order from the Lion Court Palace, I am afraid that in a short time , the Imperial Navy will never provide any further help."
"What about the Royal Council?" Ramsay took a deep breath after hearing this, and leaned on the animal leather seat. However, he did not criticize or get angry, but continued to ask: "Can they also sit back and watch? Will the principality’s land just fall into the occupation and ravage of foreign enemies?”
"These enemies really came too fast. They seemed to flash out of thin air on our coastline. The principality's navy didn't even have a chance to play a role." Then someone else from the subordinates responded: "And our main troops are concentrated in the south; Be prepared for eventualities.”
"..." Hearing this, Ramsey became more and more troubled, because this strategy of focusing on the north and the south and relying on the navy as a barrier was exactly the result of his own actions. Although he was under pressure from Rome and had to make a promise to gradually retire, it did not mean that he would let go of power.
In other words, after the second son, who was sent to Rome very early to serve as a royal attendant and courtier, returned to the Latin Principality with the support of the royal family and began to govern on his behalf, Ramsay hoped to still maintain sufficient influence behind the scenes. power, rather than being gradually forgotten and abandoned by the subjects.
Therefore, it is very critical that the army is still in the hands of the Grand Duke and is willing to continue to obey orders; during the period of negotiation and game with the imperial court, he also used it to test out many potential royal factions and speculations elements, without hesitation to attack and denounce them.
Even using special methods to eliminate them will no longer be an obstacle to the overall plan. Therefore, after the failure of the intervention force sent by the Sealand Kingdom, Ramsay has been using the excuse of rearmament to significantly increase various taxes and fief tributes in these years, and to pursue the guilt of some vassals and vassals.
As a result, by the judgment of the royal court, one was deprived of his position or title, exiled to prison, deprived of all or part of his territory and industry, or forcibly separated from his family, and demoted to a lower-level direct vassal; and even more implicated. Hundreds of people. It also greatly enriched the internal treasury of the principality and strengthened the centralization of power in the royal court.
The troops gathered in the south are ready to ensure that these hidden dangers that have been cleared and produced will not become wounds that continue to bleed; after all, as a typical medieval feudal principality, vassals and vassal knights at all levels also have their families. Exclusive retinue and private soldiers.
If it hadn't been for the failure of participating in the foreign intervention force, perhaps generations of people who were the lords of the principality would not have had the opportunity to eradicate dissidents and consolidate power in such a justified way. After all, before the main body of the royal family came to Rome, they also left many accomplices in their hometown.
These former royal accomplices, along with the development of the principality, have flourished and thrived for generations, and have also formed a subtle relationship with the Grand Duke's family. Some could not survive the passage of time and declined, some were absorbed and accepted by the duke and royal family, but some were still loyal to the royal family for generations.
Their territory may not be large and their strength is not enough to pose a threat; but they happen to occupy the principal transportation hubs and ports, or important resource production areas; therefore, they have been involved in many large and small events in the past dynasties. It also became one of the few wedges and grips used by the royal family to restrict the principality;
Although the principality cannot bypass the royal family and directly deprive them of their territory and population, it can, in accordance with the empire's war regulations, mobilize their territorial armed forces and young men to participate in the so-called war preparations. As a result, after preparing for war for several years, no enemy was seen.
These more than a dozen families, who have been members of the royal family for generations, have been exhausted by the torment of their territories and their people's livelihood. In most cases, they even have no way to surrender directly to the royal family. Because this is a common defense obligation shared by all the lords of the principality, but they are more cumbersome than others.
And it is impossible for the royal family to intervene and negotiate on these trivial local issues in every detail; what's more, as one of the important components of the Western Empire, the Latin Principality was in the Roman Senate and the Imperial Council. It’s not like there aren’t potential allies who can speak out.
The imperial senators, who were called "the bastards of the Grand Theater" by the Roman citizens, were used most of the time as decorations and public toilet supplies to endorse Augustus' will; but they were driven by money and interests. Even so, you still dare to rant about things that have nothing to do with your country.
On the other hand, he fought against all odds to raise a ransom to replace the Latin army besieged in the Kingdom of Sete Port through a secret agreement. By drawing up the list and order of redeeming nobles and retinues, the authority of the royal family was also strengthened in disguise and the vassals were weakened.
Therefore, through this method of chronic weakening and squeezing, he succeeded in making most of these direct subordinates powerless; either they fell into internal disputes and sought help from the master of the principality; or they built a high platform due to debt and were unable to sustain it. A lot of land and property had to be mortgaged.
As a result, at this moment when the most ideal state was about to be reached, the external threat that had been exaggerated; the Sealand Kingdom Army, which had been promoted and emphasized every year, actually crossed the sea to kill them. Ignoring the abandoned island of Corsica, they landed directly on the territory of the Principality.
Even despite the interception actions of the Principality Navy, the Imperial Navy fleet was invited and was crushed together in the waters off Latin and Corsica. This caught Ramsey, the Latin Grand Duke, off guard. Especially this time, the King of Knights with destructive power came in person.
According to the descriptions of the remnants of the Imperial Navy who escaped back, as the seven sisters of the Imperial Navy, the only remaining five-story sailing ship "Holy Trinity" was swallowed up by a huge whirlpool that suddenly broke out on the sea surface without even coming into contact with the real enemy. Nearly a thousand people were not spared.
Therefore, under the unpredictable methods displayed by the opponent, Archduke Ramsay could only order to abandon any troop division operations and peripheral garrisoning that might weaken himself; he severely suppressed the voice of taking the initiative to attack and fight. The shrinking force was in the city of Cagliari, the most fortified and dangerous capital.
He also did not expect to be able to quickly defeat or repel the kingdom's invading army from afar under the city; he only hoped to hold on until the moment of major turning point when the imperial army arrived for reinforcements. On the other hand, as the foundation and back-up force of the Latin Principality, it is also hidden in the capital Cagliari.
Just as he passed through the large tower and cleverly designed observation windows, he was watching the neat and orderly Royal Army camp; and he was secretly assessing the opponent's preparations and the time when they might launch an attack; suddenly, there was a faint roar in the distance, Making him turn around involuntarily.
But it was the Kingdom's fleet from the outer sea, which, after a whole day and night of replenishment and preparation, took the lead in launching artillery attacks on the Cagliari Port under the city and the Imperial warships in the waters of the bay. Along with the roar of the school shots one after another, shooting trajectories splashed out.
Not long after, with splashes of water, the piers, warehouses, markets and other port buildings that were smashed and collapsed gradually advanced to the berth near the city. Like an anthill burned by fire, the battleship's artillery was pushed to the limit of its range, bit by bit, towards the target.
Although it has been weakened in terms of hit and power, the opponent is not a moving target on the sea; it is even too late to pull up the anchor and raise the sail to reach the inner rivers and waters. The sailors and soldiers who stayed on these galleys were already scrambling to abandon the ship and run ashore;
More than an hour later, only the burned port area and embankment were left, with a dozen abandoned galleys like dead fish. At this time, to the beat of trumpets and drums on the sea, hundreds of boats and boats were put down, carrying the sailors responsible for the battle and began to row towards the shore.
After some of them boarded the port and embankment, they began to quickly put out the fire and clear the roads from the port area to the city section by section. There are also some slightly larger boats that carry special boxes and quickly approach sunken ships or other obstacles in the waterway.
Afterwards, there were only huge roars one after another, and water sprays of torn fragments rose into the sky; the turbid and rolling river was also impacted by the difference in the accumulated water level, and more obstacles and traps were arranged under the water in one go. Pull away, roll up and rush into the open sea.
In the large tower in the north of the city, the Latin Archduke Ramsay had no time to worry about the threat from the port. Because he had just issued an order to gather all the sailors and soldiers on the ship to strengthen the city's defense; he was drowned in the ground-shaking continuous bombardment of the camp below the city.
It was a spectacular scene of hundreds of long cannons, short cannons, light cannons, heavy cannons, mountain cannons, field cannons, and mortar cannons. According to different types and batches, they continued to cover the defined shooting range. In an instant, everyone above and below the city lost their normal hearing in this huge roar.
Most people could only see each other, their pale and frightened faces, their horrified and twisted expressions; their trembling limbs and bodies. Others dropped their weapons, turned around and ran away without hesitation, and then were shot on the spot by the guards supervising the battle with quick eyesight, or stopped and beheaded them.
In the preset work shed on the inside of the city wall, a raging flame was ignited, but the charcoal and heating grease, one of the materials used to defend the city, were actually knocked over in a panic; there were also supplies waiting to be transported The animals and the wounded also broke free and ran away in fright.
This round of continuous bombardment seemed short, but was extremely long; in the end, heavy ball shells fired by dozens of short-caliber mortars smashed through the masonry battlements and the thick wooden shields and outer coverings that blocked the arrows. Rolling and bouncing on the inside of the city wall, it caused a scream of shock and wailing, ending in a scream that lasted for days;
The exterior wall, which was originally made of bricks and stones, has already appeared many pits and cracks. However, what made the defenders, whose ears were ringing and shocked by the sound of the cannons, even more frightened was that under the cover of the roaring barrage of cannons, groups of heavily armored knights were approaching.
"Enemy attack!" "Fight!" "Counterattack quickly!" As some of the defenders on the city top used their best strength, they shouted hoarse warnings; the archers and crossbowmen hiding behind the battlements, as well as the The infantrymen armed with spears, swords and shields also stepped through pools of blood and broken limbs in the gaps in the battlements.
Under the shouts and urgings of their sergeants and captains, figures gathered gracefully at the edge of the battlements, trying to keep their eyes open to search for the presence of the enemy. The rock-shooting cannons, artillery cannons, and scorpion crossbows placed on enemy platforms and gun emplacements were also pushed out of the reserved shooting openings in the battlements...
However, what greeted them first was a dense drizzle and particularly deadly plume of lead particles; as the musketry formation advanced from the city, many defenders leaned out and fell into the city screaming with blood pouring from their bodies. He fell down, or his helmet burst, his eye sockets were bleeding and he fell down.
The defensive equipment that was prepared to attack received some kind of special attention; the soldiers responsible for operating it were hit and fell one after another, and no one dared to stick out to observe the enemy's situation. But a new round of attacks from the enemy followed, amidst the screams and screams of the defenders.
They were hundreds of rockets that looked like thick logs. After soaring into the sky with columns of smoke, most of them passed over the heads of the city wall and landed on the inside; they exploded or ignited, creating pieces of fire and smoke. The waiting soldiers and civilians were also torn into pieces and blown apart.
One of the rockets even accidentally hit the large tower inside the city wall where Archduke Ramsay was located. Although this was just an arson rocket filled with asphalt and naphtha, rather than an explosive rocket made of refined yellow gunpowder, the dripping fire still forced him to run away.
At this time, the first kingdom's special attack knight had already stepped on the pitted wall and threw the embedded metal pole, and successfully climbed up a gap in the wall; but suddenly paused for a moment, and pulled off his waist with one hand. A series of hanging spheres were thrown into the gap.
It was like a meteor hammer, and there were screams of pain and screams on the spot; there were also several spearheads probing out from above, but they all passed over the top of his helmet and stabbed him. null. The next moment, a sudden explosion of air waves and black smoke billowed out from the gap.
Also flying out together were bloody broken human bodies, weapons and building material fragments... (End of this chapter)
