In the fierce storm, the white five-pointed star flag fluttered in the wind, unyielding.
A hardwood flagpole is its backbone, supporting it to stand tenaciously in the rain. It stands at the highest point of the city wall, where everyone can see it.
The flag of Marquis Anson has never appeared again since the defeat of Castina's great-grandfather one hundred and twenty years ago.
Now, it has reappeared in the territory of Marquis Anson, standing in the violent storm.
...
The rain has slowed down.
The fog that originally filled the air with the violent storm also dissipated.
The traces of the more than a thousand bandits in the distance became clearer now.
Under the curtain of rain, a group of horse bandits were arranged into an siege formation under the command of each leader.
A group of elite horse thieves wearing mail stood in the last row, with shields tied to their left arms, sabers on their waists, and bows and arrows in their hands. They were both heavy infantry and elite archers, and they numbered more than five hundred.
In the front row were the newly recruited unarmored gangsters, each of them holding a rather messy array of swords, spears, and axes. Those in better condition wore a helmet and some simple metal armor on their bodies. Those in worse condition, There is nothing but a shield like a wooden sign.
The ladder was carried on the shoulders by a group of ten unarmored bandits. It was the only siege equipment used to climb the city wall.
The bullock cart that was pulling goods was now erected with a layer of wooden signs, which was used as the simplest shield cart to block arrows and push forward.
Of course, shield carts are not for unarmored gangsters, but for elite armored horse thieves.
The horse thief had already determined that in this village, whether it was the people of the village or the mercenaries hired from outside, their courage and combat skills were ultimately limited.
As long as the horse thieves can kill on the city wall, the horse thieves side must have the upper hand.
The strategic goal of the horse thieves is exactly this.
The unarmored bandits consumed arrows and exhausted the defenders, and then the armored horse thieves clashed with everyone at the fastest speed, captured the city wall in one fell swoop, and then entered the village. It was a one-sided massacre.
...
At this time, the second horse thief, Dro, held the flag of the horse bandits high in his hand, rode on his horse, and shouted with all his strength to boost the morale of the horse thieves.
"Brothers!"
"Look at the French soldiers in blue at the head of the village. Each soldier was hired with real money!"
"Think about it, how rich this village is!"
"Do you still remember what Dreyfus said before he died? Cash, goods, foreign debts, all kinds of things, up to a thousand gold coins!"
"A thousand gold coins! Each of us old brothers will be rich if we share each of them!"
"This time, I don't care what the hell you are thinking!"
"Go into the village and avenge the eldest son. We old brothers, everyone will share the gold and silver!"
"Whoever climbs the city wall first, and whoever survives, I'll give him ten gold coins personally, my horse, and my sword, all for him!"
"Brothers, we can only move forward, not retreat! If anyone dares to retreat, don't blame the old man. I don't care about brotherhood!"
As Deloitte spoke, he unsheathed his sword and pointed it straight at the gate of the city wall. In the wind and rain, he roared with all his strength...
"Brothers! March on!"
A group of horse thieves also raised their bows and arrows high in the air, and burst out with shouts and shouts of killing. They slowly moved forward in front, and their morale was high.
But for those unarmored gangsters, the situation is different.
Enter, and the old brothers will share the gold and silver, which is very good. A gold coin is not a small change.
But the problem is that we are not old brothers!
You divide the gold and the silver, what about us?
The old brothers are human beings, but the new brothers are just consumables?
A group of unarmored gangsters heard the murderous shouts from behind. Even if I feel guilty, I have to bite the bullet and move forward at this time.
One by one, they raised their shields and carried the ladders, forming a dense formation and slowly marching forward.
——
On the city wall, the military looks neat and tidy, and their morale is steady.
In front of each shooting crenel, the French crossbowmen calmly held their crossbows and watched the bandits advance, waiting only for the bandits to reach the effective shooting range.
The fifty system soldiers, Castina replaced all their equipment with swords and shields for close combat. They were completely unified. They were distributed everywhere in groups to deal with close combat.
The guard captain's side army is also engaged in close combat, and they are currently staying with Castina and Brian. Used as a firefighter, once the fighting situation there is tight, he can repair the hole as quickly as possible at any time.
The French army, which has slightly lower armor and combat power, is only responsible for shooting crossbows, the system soldiers, who are brave but lack personal adaptability, are responsible for melee combat, and the Bianting army, who are brave and have personal adaptability, are mobile and ready for battle.
Castina's philosophy is to let each unit do what they are best at and never wear multiple hats.
...
The cumulonimbus clouds in the sky were dark and thick, but at noon they were as gloomy as night.
The heavy raindrops move with the wind, and the cold autumn wind blows and collects them.
The figures of the horse thieves are getting closer and closer!
Close enough to stand on the city wall and be able to clearly see the faces of the unarmored bandits, and close enough to be able to clearly see the reflections from the iron helmets of the armored horse thieves.
They braved the cold raindrops and lined up horizontally, maintaining the most basic stability of the team. They walked slowly with shields on their backs, carrying ladders and gradually moved closer to the city wall, as if the tide was about to overwhelm a small boat.
Castina stood on the city wall, watching them form an encirclement, pressing her sword, silently.
Her gaze skipped over the large army and looked straight at Kanoka, who was sitting firmly in the rear in the distance. They were thousands of meters away, and the two seemed to be looking at each other.
Castina's eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, her charming apricot eyes were focused, and her beautiful face was completely solemn.
At this time, the approaching array of horse thieves stopped and drove out a group of common people from their ranks.
——
One by one, the common people were tied up with ropes without even a single piece of hair, crying and begging, only to be slashed with swords and forced forward.
After leaving a few corpses in the mud, the poor people were forced to do so. Not only to consume the defenders' arrows, but also to level the trenches with their bodies and lives.
Brian looked down and saw that among the dim fields in front of the village, a group of people who had no trace of their life and death were particularly clear. Their wailing could even be heard in the distance.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! We..."
"We are from the town of Dostar next door! We are from the town next door!"
"Please, let us in! Please!"
"I'm from Baishuihe. I went to visit my relatives next door, but I didn't want the town to be massacred by horse bandits!"
"I'm from Baishuihe. Let me in. Let me in but don't shoot!"
"Please!"
Men, women, and children with no clothes on their backs, covered with cuts and bruises, stepped on the mud and came with difficulty.
Crying and begging for mercy all the way, it was extremely miserable.
Brian looked sideways at Kastina, only to see Kastina's charming face still solemn and solemn.
...
The pair of plump red lips moved slightly and issued the order in a deep voice.
"Shoot, we can't let them step into the trench. The trench is prepared for the soldiers of the horse thief army."
"Everyone! Shoot by name! Don't let even one person get close to the trench! Shoot!"
Castina's face was furrowed, her eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes were foxy and almond-shaped, and the sword in her hand was pointed at the people. Her face looked slightly ferocious for a moment, and the slightly broken female voice was particularly clear in the rain.
The next moment, each of the French crossbowmen fired their crossbows one after another, and the crossbows penetrated the rain curtain and flew out!
The Frenchman is a very good crossbowman, and is quite good at accuracy and step estimation.
A group of common people were tied up with ropes, and they were like living targets.
The crossbow arrows flew out and accurately shot into the heads and bodies of the common people. Suddenly, thousands of arrows were fired, causing countless casualties.
One by one, the people with arrows in their bodies fell into the mud. When one fell, a long list of people were implicated. They couldn't turn around and run away. Their wrists were bleeding from the ropes, and the sounds of panic and wailing could not be heard.
"I am a villager from Baishuihe! You can't kill me! You can't kill me!"
"Let my child go in! Please!"
"Mom! Mom! Please don't kill her, please!"
"..." Arrows flew out one after another. No matter whether they were running towards the door in a hurry or turning around and running away, they could not escape.
In just a moment, two to three hundred frightened people, like pigs and sheep, all fell into the mud.
The crossbows stuck on the ground were lost one by one, the eyes were filled with bloodshot eyes that could not be closed, the faces were frightened and desperate, the corpses were strung together in the mud, and the bodies were hit by the rain. Fuzzy blood.
In just a moment, not a single wailing sound could be heard on the battlefield.
...
Castina looked at the corpses of the people here, her beautiful face became more solemn, and the hand holding the sword tightened.
The method of driving people to serve as human shields has only been seen a few times in history books, but never paid attention to.
When this matter was put before her eyes, all she could and could only do was to order everyone to be shot.
Dozens of knights rushed out of the city to save all the people. This was a literary and artistic method used to embellish the history books to mythologize a certain hero, and to highlight the great kindness and bravery of this man.
In real war, the only option is to shoot everyone.
Castina was a modern person in her previous life, but this does not mean that she would make foolish decisions on the battlefield because of her overflowing kindness.
On the battlefield, you are the commander first, and the human being second.
She stared at the horse thieves on the battlefield with a pair of stern fox eyes, her breathing becoming rapid due to the fluctuations in her heart.
Ansen's citizens, I don't know how many people were killed because of this group of horse thieves.
This battle is by no means just the first battle for a pair of dilapidated households to resume business.
This is a bloody battle for peace between Ansen citizens and the bandits.
Behind him are not only the people in the village, but also the people in Meyer City, and the people in more than ten surrounding villages and towns. All people look up to this!
No matter what, we must win!