After Guo Kang announced his goal, everyone headed towards their destination. However, under his deliberate guidance, the team increased their speed, got ahead of the crowd, and approached their destination.
This is one of Alexandria's homes that is actually on the edge of what is generally considered a ghetto. There are some slightly improved buildings around, and this house is very easy to recognize even among them.
Its appearance doesn't look like a common house here, nor does it look like the home of Sergei's gang. Although the latter is tall and neat, and it looks like it was built by regular craftsmen, it is just a simple two-story single apartment building. This residence is a structure similar to a nobleman's residence.
The traditional houses in Rome are actually somewhat similar to the courtyard houses in the Central Plains. However, the buildings on the four sides of a courtyard are generally separated and connected to each other by structures such as walls and corridors to enclose the courtyard. The courtyard of the Romans was a whole building connected together.
Since the houses are usually two stories high, and there are no windows on the outer walls, the lighting is very poor, and the light during the day is only close to the patio in the middle. This is not a matter of architectural style, it is simply that the public security in the city of Rome was so poor that even the nobles did not dare to open windows on the walls facing the street, so everyone could only make do with it...
From this perspective, it looks like a defensive building similar to an earth building.
With the development of the times, the Romans gradually had the conditions to pay attention to comfort and pomp, so the residential buildings also gradually developed. The main building buildings became more and more complex, and windows and other decorations were gradually added. In addition, many wealthy people are no longer satisfied with this kind of single building, and have begun to expand into two-entry, three-entry courtyards, and even more complex structures.
The upper floors of the Purple Khan Court brought new architectural styles after they settled in Dadu. For example, the residence of Guo Kang's family is a traditional Central Plains-style courtyard, with a wall, a relatively low single-story house, and a wider courtyard. Therefore, there were heroines running over the wall and jumping up and down on the roof every three days.
But so far, the influence of Central Plains-style houses is still limited. Most mansions and palaces in Greece and even Western Europe still continue the overall style of the Romans. Like the building in front of you, a corridor and a door are installed at the first entrance, which makes it look quite luxurious.
"This guy really knows how to enjoy it." Guo Kang looked at the incompatible mansion and said with emotion.
"I have never liked these people." Guo Ponu whispered to him: "I told you in advance: if they try to get close to you later, you must not believe it. These people say every day that they know their father, and they were the guardians back then. They are acquaintances who have known each other since we were in the city, but in fact, they were forced to come in. "
"He was the gang leader at that time?" Guo Kang asked.
"It wasn't him at that time, it was his brother." Guo Ponu told him: "But their families all have the same virtue. At that time, they had already run to the city gate, but there were too many people there and the road was blocked. Dad and mother Only then do we have the opportunity to catch up, 'reason' with them, force them to spend money, and reward the brave men, which makes people feel at ease."
Guo Kang felt that this reaction was expected. So he nodded to show he understood.
As the team gradually approached, the people in the house seemed to notice something, and they could see people at the door starting to move around. The knight captain came over and asked Guo Kang if he wanted to start attacking directly.
"Let's divide it up again." Guo Kang said, turning to the lame young man: "When you came to deliver food before, which door did you come in through?"
"Take the side door, the one near the kitchen." The other party replied.
"Besides this, are there any other doors?" Guo Kang asked.
"There is also a back door. There are only three in total." The young man said, "The one in front is the main door, and the back door is in the northwest, near the street. These two doors are used by guests to usually come in and out. The door on the kitchen side is slightly smaller. The smaller one is where servants come and go."
"Okay, your team will follow him and rush in from the kitchen." Guo Kang said to the knight captain: "If the enemy is prepared, we may not be able to enter from the front. It depends on you."
The knight captain responded immediately.
"Take my flag and go to the back door." He then said to Guo Ponu: "Remember to hold it high so that the people inside can see it."
"As a bait, right?" Guo Ponu understood what he meant: "But there is a problem with this. First of all, they do think that someone will attack from the back door. But I don't think many people here recognize this flag. There’s no use getting up.”
"I think, just leave someone to block the door over there to prevent the target from escaping." She waved her hand and shouted: "Captain Lucas!"
"I'm here." Captain Lucas came over with his sword on his shoulder.
"Call 10 people and go to the back door to see if there is a luxurious carriage." Guo Ponu ordered: "If there is one, hide behind the carriage. If not, hide in the corner of the street. After that, no matter what If you see anyone, stop and detain them before talking."
Captain Lucas looked at Guo Kang, who nodded, so he also called a few guards, turned around and walked around the back door.
"Don't take it for granted when commanding, and don't hope that others will be fooled directly." Guo Ponu began to educate Guo Kang again: "Whether the enemy will be deceived by you can only be determined after the war. We don't know if they are smart. People don’t know in what way and angle they think. Before that, you can’t assume that they will definitely follow your train of thought.”
"The only thing that can really force the enemy to follow your own rhythm is actual actions. Therefore, instead of letting them observe and think for themselves, it is better to attack directly and let them feel real pressure. Only when they have no time to make a choice, or have no choice, will they really are forced to follow our lead."
"Then we... attack directly?" Guo Kang felt guilty after what she said and asked quickly.
"Shouldn't you be in command?" Guo Ponu turned around and pointed at the dark crowd in the distance, and asked: "Look at those people behind you, they are all here for your little commander. You mobilized them all. , you can’t stop doing it halfway, right?”
Guo Kang was speechless for a moment. He was even a little confused, wondering what Guo Ponu wanted to do.
Before, he had met more than one person who wanted to compete for power with his brothers, not to mention Shi Huizhen, and even Theodora probably had this idea. So much so that everyone has always wondered whether these people were too "Greek".
Guo Ponu was similar to them, always trying to steal the limelight from Guo Kang - even though Guo Kang actually had no interest. At that time, Guo Kang felt that these people were working together and did not learn from each other well.
However, after returning this time, Guo Ponu suddenly seemed to have a different temperament, and sometimes he couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Now, she simply said that she wanted to be the head of the family, and at the same time asked Guo Kang to establish his prestige and make contributions. It was quite strange no matter how you looked at it.
However, they also have a tacit understanding. Apart from anything else, Guo Ponu would never mess around on truly important occasions. In this regard, she may be more reliable than Li Xuanying...
Therefore, Guo Kang didn't think too much this time. He nodded and told the remaining people: "Let's be polite first and then attack. If they hand over the people, we can have a good talk. If they are not willing, just attack by force." .”
It would take time for the other two teams to arrive, so everyone gave up their previous plan to attack directly. They wandered slowly for a while and successfully attracted the attention of the mansion.
There are still a large number of residents coming behind. They did not have the discipline and restraint of a regular army and were noisy along the way. However, the advantage of this is that whether they really want to help fight or are just watching the fun, such a huge momentum is impossible to ignore.
In the eyes of the enemy, the waiting of Guo Kang and others was probably to wait for the helping people to get in place. The enemy was obviously very nervous, and many thugs could be seen rushing toward the door. If you think about it carefully, Guo Ponu's statement that "direct pressure can better mobilize the enemy" makes sense.
After waiting for half an hour, Guo Kang thought that time was enough. He took out the flag again and prepared to negotiate at the door - he actually didn't expect the other party to surrender directly. However, it is meaningful to put on such a grand posture and have the support of big figures from the upper echelons of the Khanate, which can somewhat reduce the will of the minions to resist and reduce the difficulty of subsequent storming.
However, Father Mikhail stopped him.
"Those gang members may already know what's going on outside." He told Guo Kang: "They are not rational guys, and they may go crazy when faced with danger. You'd better not take risks, I will do it."
Just as Guo Kang was about to say something, old Vladimir, who had been silent next to him, suddenly spoke. He raised his head and looked at Guo Kang: "Sir, let me do it. Everyone is here for my matter. As a father, I can no longer hide behind others. Let me go and tell them."
"No, you have no negotiation experience. Aren't you going to die?" Father Mikhail immediately retorted: "Since we are here to save people, we must minimize the losses. I will do it."
He waved his hand, indicating that it didn't matter, and didn't take Guo Kang's flag. He just raised the old hardwood-bound and copper-bound scripture in his hand high, and showed the other party the carefully polished shiny brass on the cover. Cross, just walked towards the door.
Guo Kang thought for a while and prepared to follow. He was dressed plainly, and no one here knew him. If there is a real situation, we can respond or take direct action.
However, before Father Mikhail could take a few steps, several people rushed out of the mansion. They shouted "Get out!" and brandished their weapons. Guo Kang was still guessing whether the thugs recognized him because the old priest had tried to protect civilians before, and he saw someone on the opposite side raising a crossbow and pointing it at him.
Father Mikhail also seemed surprised and subconsciously stepped aside. The man had already released the arrow without hesitation, and with a whoosh, it went somewhere.
Guo Kang couldn't care less about the reactions of other people on both sides. Another thug on the opposite side took out a wooden pole from behind. Not surprisingly, it was the fire door gun he had just seen. He reached out to pull the match rope, and Guo Kang also pulled out his pistol in an instant, raised his hand and shot.
The steel wheel at the end of the pistol spun with a loud sound.
——In this era, the reliability of metal torsion springs is not very high, and due to material problems, the ability to maintain elasticity is not strong. However, in this pistol, there were metal reeds adjusted by Zhu Wenkui himself. In order to prevent the strength from weakening, he was even asked to replace one every three times.
The tip of the steel wheel quickly scratched a flint inside the gun body.
——In this era, whether it is flint or other fire starters, there is a stability problem when trying to start a fire. The unfortunate incident that happened to Guo Kang before was a scenario that was not very likely but would definitely happen. However, inside this pistol is pyrite that Zhu Wenkui hand-selected and carefully polished. Even the angle of the surface has been carefully designed. In order to ensure that the steel wheel can always rub in the best position, a new one must be replaced every few shots.
Large sparks from the flint flew into the gunpowder pool, and the gunpowder particles at the end of the gun exploded instantly. The red flame pushed the thick smoke and burst out from the barrel carefully drilled by a blacksmith with the title of "Master".
The lead bullets were wrapped in soft paper specially made with oriental craftsmanship and whizzed out. They burned into ashes the moment they flew out of the barrel, turning into black fragments and scattering in the airflow.
The lead bullet flew straight out and penetrated into the brow bone of the gunman. It tore apart the tissue violently with a shattering sound, lifted up the bones, and smashed a big hole in the back of the head, along with several bone fragments. They flew out together.
Before the corpse fell, a pointed iron rod also flew over. Unfortunately, the target was already leaning back, so it only penetrated the corpse's shoulder.
Guo Kang drew his sword and then noticed that Guo Ponu had rushed over.
He had only heard of people talking about the speed of sword masters when sprinting, but he had never seen with his own eyes that someone could run so fast wearing armor - he really lacked real combat experience. Besides, when his adoptive father gave him demonstrations, he deliberately kept his strength low so that he could observe and learn more easily.
Guo Ponu may have rushed over when he threw the iron dart. By the time Guo Kang reacted, he had already rushed over from Father Mikhail, who had just stabilized his body.
An enemy with a long knife wanted to stop her, but his movements were too slow. Guo Ponu had already run over from him, leaping a few feet away in two steps. He straightened his body like an arrow, stretched out his long sword, and stabbed the opponent with the crossbow that had just been strung. wear.
The other four thugs looked at her in surprise, and Guo Kang's men also ran over quickly. A man with a short gun reacted fastest, raised his hand and stabbed Guo Ponu. Guo Ponu did not draw his sword. He turned around and dodged the tip of the gun, stretched out his right arm to clamp the gun body, and yanked it hard.
The thug staggered toward her, and Guo Ponu stepped forward, pulled out the dagger from his waist with his left hand, and stabbed the thug twice in the neck. The thug let go of the short gun, covered his neck, gasped loudly, and slowly fell down.
The knife hand that Guo Ponu dodged also rushed over, and she stepped diagonally behind the body. The swordsman did not hesitate, jumped over the fallen body, and slashed with the sword. Guo Ponu immediately turned around, using his legs as a pivot, and using the gun body he held, he flew the knife hand that jumped in the air away.
She wanted to continue dealing with it, but the swordsman tried to stabilize his body. After landing on the ground, he took several steps back and fell to the ground, just close to Guo Kang.
Seeing that he had not yet stood firm, Guo Kang immediately rushed up from the side.
The swordsman was actually still wearing chain armor. Guo Kang learned his lesson from the last time and did not try to force the sword and armor to fight. Seeing that the man was squatting on the ground, and before he could get up, he immediately drew out his sword, pressed down on the tip of the sword, and stabbed straight into the opponent's raised buttocks.
Due to posture issues, the mail jacket happened to shrink upwards, failing to protect the lower body. Guo Kang's sword penetrated into the flesh and blood without any hindrance, sinking nearly a foot deep. The swordsman let out an inhuman scream, his whole body twitched, and his sword almost flew away. Guo Kang quickly drew out his sword, jumped back, and distanced himself for safety.
The remaining two people ran towards Guo Kang and Guo Ponu. One of the men with a long ax was already approaching. Guo Kang felt that he was disadvantaged by the length of his weapon, so he quickly took a few steps back. The thug holding the ax couldn't help but look at the swordsman next to him who was still screaming miserably. He hesitated for a moment, but was actually a little afraid and didn't catch up.
On the other side, Guo Ponu turned his gun with one hand and faced the last enemy who also held a short gun. The opponent still stabbed directly, but she shook the gun body, knocked the tip of the opposite gun away, stabbed it with the force, and smashed it into her waist.
The armor on the thug blocked the tip of the gun, but he still arched his back in pain and his steps were stagnant. Guo Ponu shook again and hit his head with the gun head. Blood immediately flowed from the thug's mouth and nose. He thrust the gun forward again and pierced his neck. The thug fell to the ground without saying a word, dead.
The thug holding the ax obviously panicked and swung his long ax to chop Guo Kang. However, a book flew from beside him and hit him on the head. It turned out that Father Mikhail was afraid that Guo Kang would be in danger, so he threw the scriptures directly.
His book was made before the sophisticated art of papermaking was passed on, and was passed down from generation to generation by the monks. Like other important medieval books, it has an elaborate hardwood cover and hundreds of parchment pages.
The thick wood from the Ross area came into close contact with the face of the axe-wielder. The impact made him scream. Not only was he unable to swing the axe, he staggered and almost fell down. He could only subconsciously use the handle of the axe to support himself on the ground, trying to maintain balance and stand upright.
But Guo Ponu had already turned around, raised his hand and used the short spear as a spear, and threw it out again. The gun was so powerful and heavy that it instantly shattered the inferior iron pieces on the axe-wielder's body, knocking him to the ground and making him unable to stand up again.
In just ten breaths of time, almost all the enemies in this group were killed. Only then did the others arrive, and now only the swordsman who was still screaming horribly was left.
Father Mikhail walked over, looked at it, and shook his head.
"Hopeless."
As he spoke, he made the sign of the cross, recited a verse, picked up the hammer at his waist, and smashed the swordsman's head to free him. The screams suddenly stopped.
"Father have mercy. Amen," Father Mikhail intoned at the end.
"Amen." Guo Kang and others also chanted.
(End of chapter)
