Outside the castle, Franco soldiers and horses were densely gathered outside the east gate of the castle and on the streets in the southeast direction. They were busy adjusting their formations, carrying ladders and more than a dozen temporary siege devices.
The battle is about to break out.
After the heavy artillery was destroyed last night, it severely dampened the morale of Fo Langji's soldiers and horses, but at the same time it also pushed them to a dead end. There was not much food and supplies left in the city, and the burned food storage place was the only one in the army that stored food and grass.
The food collected in the past two days will soon be exhausted.
The people in the city had already fled, and they had hid the food tightly before running away. Although the French soldiers sent people to search door to door, they found very little. If this continues, they can support at most two years.
In three days, there will be no food.
The Folang Military Corps held an emergency meeting last night. There are currently two ways to go. One is to evacuate here immediately and go to the towns of the Garo Empire in the west inland for rest and supplies. The Garo Empire will not refuse to supply.
Give them food.
But doing this would be tantamount to abandoning Guri City, which is tantamount to escaping from the battlefield. This crime, if later investigated, will probably be hanged. No one is willing to bear such responsibility. So although this seems to be the best option at the moment
choice, but no one dares to do so.
Then the only way left is to capture the castle as soon as possible and annihilate the enemies inside.
Not only because of the need to eliminate the invading enemies, but also because there are a large amount of food supplies stored in the underground warehouses in the castle. The castle in the city is a castle complex composed of four castles, which was where the Francons occupied it.
time, in order to prevent emergencies
In order to be able to hold on for a long time in the event of an accident, the castle was not only built solidly, but also a large amount of food and materials were stored in the underground warehouse under the castle to prepare for consumption during the hold.
, wait until reinforcements arrive.
In fact, everyone knows this, but few people see the materials hoarded in the basement with their own eyes. But every year, the grain materials inside have to be transported out to replace a batch of fresh grain storage. Hundreds of trucks of grain materials are dragged out and sold, and then
Buy fresh ones and store them. It is said that they are rotated every three years. In other words, hundreds of trucks of food and supplies are shipped out every year and it is only one-third of the inventory.
According to estimates, the rice, flour, dried fish and meat stored inside are enough to feed thousands of people for half a year. It is even said that there is a huge wine cellar inside, which stores a large amount of wine, rum, etc. It can be said that the entire castle is a huge
material warehouse.
If you capture the castle as soon as possible, you can obtain these food supplies and alleviate the current crisis.
After emergency consultations, the officer corps finally decided to capture the castle at all costs before completely running out of food. There can be no more hesitation. Otherwise, things will become extremely bad.
Their siege strategy has obviously been adjusted. Starting yesterday, they besieged on all sides and launched an all-out attack. But after several attacks yesterday, they lost a lot of people. And last night, the Garro Empire's two thousand
The soldiers and horses left Guli without saying goodbye. Now all the Franji soldiers and horses in the city combined only have more than 5,000 people. If they attack from all sides, they will obviously not have enough troops.
So they decided to launch an attack from the east and southeast corners where the terrain was slightly gentle. The opponent's explosive firearms were powerful and would have greater lethality on dense crowds. To solve this problem, the Francois had prepared many weapons.
Door panels and shields serve as means of defense.
Because they discovered that the lethality of that kind of firearm comes from the shrapnel flying inside after the explosion. As long as these shrapnel can be blocked, it can effectively resist its lethality. It can also prevent the shooting of bows and arrows.
Two clever lieutenants even came up with the idea of nailing thick wooden boards to the carriage and using horses to quickly approach the city wall. Moreover, they made dozens of huge three-level wooden stairs to serve as siege ladders.
These things, which were several feet high, were loaded on several flatbed carts, and were fixed under the city wall with war horses. This was the passage through which they could charge directly to the top of the castle wall.
In short, the minds of the middle and lower-ranking officers have never been so flexible and active. Perhaps because their lives were at stake and this battle must be won, they made careful preparations before attacking.
The sun has risen high, and the preparations for the Franco soldiers and horses are finally over. Rows of door panels serve as huge shields across the front of the team. Ladders are carried on the shoulders of four or five people. Dozens of horses
Pulling a huge siege triangular ladder, these wooden ladders are placed on a long flat cart.
More than a dozen Franco generals from the officer corps stood at the rear with great ambition, their faces filled with anticipation. They believed that even without heavy artillery, today's attack should be a success.
Just when Captain Casey, the highest-ranking member of the Franji garrison who was elected as the temporary commander, was about to order an attack, a figure in red and a small round hat appeared above the castle gate ahead.
In everyone's sight.
"That's the Cardinal." Someone quickly recognized the man.
The man on the wall was none other than Cardinal Arthur. In view of Zhang Yanling's intimidation, he had to stand up and shout to the Franco officers and soldiers who were about to attack.
"Excellent warriors of the Franco Kingdom, children of God. I am Arthur, servant of God, your Lord Bishop. Please allow me to say a few words before you launch an attack." Bishop Arthur held a trumpet in his hand.
Tong shouted loudly.
Almost everyone in France believes in Catholicism, and the status of the clergy is very high. The priests in the country churches are all respectable, not to mention Cardinal Arthur. He is a high-ranking existence.
Seeing his appearance, many soldiers crossed themselves on their chests to express their respect.
"Arthur has surrendered to the enemy, we don't have to listen to his words." Captain Cassie said solemnly.
The surrounding officers nodded slightly. They already knew that the defenders in the castle evacuated under Bishop Arthur's persuasion. This allowed the enemy to occupy the castle. It can be seen that Bishop Arthur helped the enemy.
"It's better to listen to what he has to say. Bishop Arthur is a cardinal of the Holy See. If we don't respect him and this matter reaches the ears of the Holy See, we may cause trouble. It's better to listen to what he has to say."
The lieutenant said softly.
The officers nodded slightly. Indeed, the evidence that Arthur surrendered to the enemy is not sufficient. And even if it is true, it cannot be concluded before the matter is confirmed and before the king and the Holy See issue orders. Therefore, respect must be given.
"Children, you are very brave and hard-working. You came from our hometown of Francois and came here to protect the interests and property of our country and spread the glory and majesty of our country.
, you are all respectable warriors. God has always blessed you, and you will receive God's long-term protection. I, Arthur, as a servant of God, am also proud of you."
"But, my children, the situation has changed now. You have also seen that people from the Eastern Ming Dynasty came and had a conflict with us. Everything is in chaos. The governor is dead, and Desang, who led you
Major Thies also died. This is such a sad thing. Yesterday you attacked many times. Look at the ground, so many corpses piled up, so many people died in battle. This is not a war, this is an act of suicide.
.God will not forgive you for not cherishing your life so much. Your life does not belong to
It does not belong to you, nor to your parents, but to God. As a servant of God, I convey God’s will and ask you to stop this senseless suicide behavior, because the rest of your life needs to be dedicated to the Lord, and your life and death must be determined by
The Lord decides
.You have no right to decide your own life or death. This is God’s most severe warning. Disobeying God’s teachings is blaspheming your faith and blaspheming the Lord in heaven. In the future, you will go to purgatory and associate with the devil. I can’t watch it.
For you to do this..."
Arthur's voice was sincere and exciting, with a moving compassion and compassion, and with unquestionable majesty.
Zhang Yanling sat on a bluestone on the inside of the crenel and listened to what Arthur said with a smile on his lips. This guy was really eloquent and fully qualified to be a magic stick.
The soldiers outside the city listened blankly to these words. Many of them were devout believers. When they heard what Arthur said, they felt panic and doubt in their hearts.
"My children. Perhaps some of you will doubt God's will and think that your actions are just actions. I do not deny that fighting the enemy is our duty and a heroic act of justice. However, these Eastern
The people who came here did not come to fight us, they came with the desire for peace and friendship. It was us who attacked them, and all of this was their counterattack. I have
They fully communicated the matter. They also explained the whole story. They do not want bloodshed and death, they want friendship and peace. So, as long as we stop the hostilities, both sides will stop this endless bloodshed and death. This is both
God's will is also good in the world. So, children, you can leave. Go through the west gate and leave here. The people in the east will leave, and the hatred will disappear."
Arthur continued to express his intentions with exaggerated body language. His words were sincere and inflammatory.
Some of the Franco soldiers were moved by his persuasion and began to look at each other with inquiring eyes. The tense and deformed expressions before the battle also relaxed, and smiles appeared on their faces. The fingers that clenched the weapons also became loose.
Getting up and staying away from the battle was what they hoped for. The bishop gave the order, which was exactly what he wanted. How could he not make them happy?
"My children, I, Arthur, convey to you the hope of God in the name of the Holy Father, the Holy Mother, and the Holy Spirit. I hope you will not be lost lambs and lose your blood and lives in this foreign land needlessly. Leave here.
Come on, God bless you, Amen!" Arthur said loudly.
There was a commotion among the soldiers, some even shouted Amen, and the formation began to disperse. Some soldiers seemed to be leaving.
At this moment, there was a loud gunshot. Bishop Arthur's figure standing on the city wall swayed, he covered his chest, the microphone in his hand fell, and his whole body fell backwards.
"ah?"
Everyone on and off the city screamed in shock.
Captain Cassie sneered and said: "Arthur turned to the enemy and rebelled, betrayed our country of Franco, and betrayed God. God punished him and told him to shut up. Such people should go to hell. The Ming Dynasty is our enemy,
But he spoke for them. This is a shameful betrayal. Yes, I ordered him to be killed. This is the only fate for the betrayer. Listen to me. Anyone who listens to the betrayer's instigation should be hanged.
Hanged on the rack."
"Captain Cassie is right. Arthur is a shameful betrayer. He made a deal with the devil. In order to survive, he betrayed all of us. Captain Cassie did the right thing. We will fight for Arthur's death."
The domestic explanation is clear." Another officer said loudly.
Four or five more officers agreed. In addition to the reason why Guli must be defended in this battle, there is also an irresistible temptation, which is to perform meritorious service in battle. This kind of opportunity to bully the minority, the opponent is the mortal enemy.
The people of the Ming Dynasty are unanimously regarded as the biggest enemies of the Franco Kingdom. Defeating them and guarding Guli will be their best opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
Don't say that Arthur's words are meant to speak for the enemy. Even if what he said is true, in this case, he cannot abide by it. Cassie thought so, and most of the officers thought so too. So, Cassie ordered in a low voice
When several soldiers with matchlocks moved forward within the shooting range while Arthur was speaking, the officers around him did not stop them at all.
"Blow the horn and prepare to attack!" Cassie shouted loudly.