The loud shouts of killing and the roar of artillery fire woke Lu Xiao from his deep sleep.
Shaking his still groggy head, Lu Xiao hurriedly got out of bed, opened the door and found chaos inside and outside Auditore Manor.
The maids panicked and went back to their rooms to hide. Mario's energetic pre-war encouragement came from the training ground outside the manor.
"Mercenaries! Drive those worthless idiots back and let them know whose territory Monteriggioni belongs to!"
Although he is a member of the nobility, Mario has a bold and cheerful nature and does not like to hold it like those nobles who are proud of their status.
His unscrupulous swear words were very popular among the rude mercenary group. The mercenaries wearing simple leather armor roared with high morale and ran towards the city wall under the leadership of their respective squad leaders.
"Mario!"
Lu Xiao stopped the Lord of Monteriggioni, who was also about to climb the city wall, "Montrigioni was attacked? Which force?"
"ha!"
A look of disdain appeared on Mario's face, and he twitched his lips with a sneer: "Who else could it be? The lackey of the Templar Knights, the clown of the Patch family."
"Patch family?"
Lu Xiao felt like he had heard this name somewhere before, but for a while he couldn't recall it clearly.
"It's hard to explain in words, let's talk as we walk."
Mario kept walking, beckoning Lu Xiao to follow him, and briefly explained to him the origins of the Patch family on the way to the city wall.
The Pazzi family is also an aristocratic family with roots in Tuscany and Florence. Similar to the Auditore family, they also relied on the banking industry to make their fortune in Florence. The seeds of disagreement between the two families have long been sown due to competition in family business.
"Auditore is an assassin and Patch is a Templar. Even if there is no conflict over banking business, there is no way we can live in harmony."
Mario said categorically: "Since the 14th century, the Pazzi family has had an incomprehensible feud with the Auditore. When the Templars besieged Monteriggioni, the Pazzi family also contributed a lot."
"Those idiots with lagging intelligence didn't know that the Shroud had been secretly moved. Since then, they would gather troops to attack Monteriggioni at regular intervals in an attempt to seize the Piece of Eden controlled by the Brotherhood from the city.
This is a way to claim credit from their master."
Mario is a rough and tumble man, full of passion for the practice of the Brotherhood's philosophy. He travels around for this purpose all year round. He has devoted great efforts to the cause of the Italian Assassin Brotherhood.
But since Mario is away fighting all year round, he is not qualified as a lord.
The city of Monteriggioni was in disrepair and lacked complete defense weapons. The weak city wall suffered many damages due to the artillery bombardment of the Pazzi family.
However, after all, the Pazzi family is just one of many bankers. The number of artillery they can raise is limited, and even when facing a small and dilapidated castle like Monteriggioni, their attack power is insufficient.
This was not the first time that the Auditore family and the Pazzi family had fought. After Mario climbed onto the city wall, he skillfully directed the archers to hide behind the battlements, waiting for the artillery to fill the ammunition gaps and release arrows down the city.
Artillery was introduced to Europe by the Mongols in the 14th century. The artillery of this era was still very backward. It used the front-loading method. The loading process was extremely cumbersome. After each firing, it took a certain amount of time to clean the barrel and load new ammunition. The solid bullets fired were
The destructive power is also relatively urgent.
"Fire the arrow!"
Mario pulled out the long sword from his waist and shouted an order, and the mercenaries behind the battlements drew their bowstrings in an orderly manner and fired at the city.
The city of Monteriggioni has no moat. The private soldiers of the Pazzi family pushed city carts and shouted slogans to violently attack the solid city gate. The rain of arrows falling from the sky killed or injured many soldiers operating siege weapons.
.
Mario's well-trained mercenaries were obviously better in combat quality than the Patch family's private soldiers. Before the cannons were reloaded, a barrage of arrows fell into the city, accurately hitting the Patch family soldiers.
, the screams from the city can be heard endlessly.
Lu Xiao had never participated in actual combat before. Looking at the tragic situation below the city, he hesitated slightly.
'Sooner or later you will experience this day anyway, so be mentally prepared in advance.'
Gritting his teeth, Lu Xiao pulled out a hard-stringed long bow that was rarely used from the weapon rack on the city wall. He slowly pulled the bowstring to full length with the muscles of his hands bulging, and aimed his sights at an officer of the Patch family who was commanding the battle on horseback.
.
"Suck~"
Take a deep breath and hold it in to prevent the body rhythm caused by natural breathing from affecting your accuracy.
Clairvoyance not only simply increases the sight distance, Lu Xiao's dynamic vision has also been greatly improved under the influence of this passive skill.
The commander rode his horse back and forth between the teams, and his high-pitched commanding voice could be clearly heard even on the city walls.
This commander should have relatively rich combat experience, and the command position he chose exceeds the shooting range of most archers.
The special longbow used by Lu Xiao has a longer range than ordinary bows and arrows, but it requires strong strength to draw this bow.
Although the mercenaries are well-trained and powerful, there are no marksmen among them who specialize in archery. They cannot guarantee the accuracy of the bow when drawing the bow at full strength. They usually do not use this kind of special long weapon specially made for sniping.
bow.
"drink!"
As Lu Xiao shouted softly, the arrow attached to the bow shot out quickly.
Under Mario's expectant gaze, just one second later, the commander, who was still in motion, was hit by an arrow in the forehead. He didn't even let out a scream before he fell under the horse with his eyes wide open.
"Xilulu!"
The panicked neighing of the horses woke up the sluggish private soldiers of the Patch family. The sudden death of the commander triggered panic in the Patch family's attacking team.
"pretty!"
Mario clenched his fists in excitement, but he did not forget his duty as a commander, and immediately issued a loud order: "Keep shooting arrows! The cavalry is following me, and be prepared to go out of the city to pursue!"
"oh!"
As expected, the Patch family, whose commander was sniped, fell into chaos. Many soldiers fled on the spot, which triggered a series of chain reactions. A large number of soldiers fled in a hurry without command.
"Crunch!"
The heavy gate of the city of Monteriggioni slowly opened, and Mario himself led the cavalry to swarm out.
"Charge! Huge bounties are waiting for you at the front!"
For mercenaries, bounty is the most practical and most motivating slogan for them to fight.
Mario, who was in his prime, fiercely led his troops into the fleeing Patch family and slaughtered them wildly. This one-sided battle had no suspense at this point.
Lu Xiao still stood on the city wall and aimed his longbow at the elites of the Patch family who still maintained their will to fight, killing them one by one with precision.
This was how the battles between small feudal lords in the 15th century lacked a systematic command system. Once the commander was killed, the outcome of the entire battle could usually be announced.
The city of Monteriggioni won a great victory and captured five artillery pieces brought by the Pazzi family, which was a great gain.
Mario was happy and boldly fulfilled his promise. After receiving the bounty, the mercenaries cheered and rushed to the tavern in the city.
The mercenaries who wear their heads on their waists all day are in a precarious situation. No one can guarantee that they will survive the next battle. This makes them develop the habit of enjoying themselves in time, and the bounty they get is usually not in their hands.
Stored for too long.
"pity."
Mario looked at the mercenaries walking away shoulder to shoulder and sighed: "I am not a qualified lord and cannot bring prosperity to Monteriggioni. There is not even a brothel built in the city for the mercenaries to relax and unwind."
The corner of Lu Xiao's mouth twitched. Coming from a modern harmonious society, he was a little uncomfortable with Mario's speech.
But in Europe in the 15th century, brothels were very common facilities, and every large city had at least one brothel.
The problem in the city of Monteriggioni is not a lack of money. As a banker, Giovanni can provide Mario with sufficient funds. What Mario lacks is the energy to develop the city.
As a remote town with no characteristics, it is difficult for Monteriggioni to attract a large number of business travelers. Without trade circulation, it will naturally not be able to prosper.
"Stop talking about this."
Mario shook his head, putting away his worries for the time being, laughing heartily and patting Lu Xiao on the shoulder.
"The first victory in this battle must be recorded on your head. Come with me and I will show you something good."