That's very badass

Chapter 121 Siege II
Some soldiers could not see the hope of attacking the city wall, shouts and screams came from time to time, and comrades who kept falling, even the air was full of blood and golden juice, and the burnt wounded burnt smell.

This mixed smell not only irritated their mouths and noses, but also deeply irritated their nerves, and despair began to spread among these recruits.

They turned around and were about to run away, but they were shot in the cheek by an oncoming arrow before they ran far. They couldn't believe that they would die at the hands of their own people.

It's not that these archers are too ruthless, this is the military order they received, and they must execute it. Behind them there are also butcher's knives waiting.

Watching this scene, Earl Bakar intuitively felt cold sweat dripping from his head, and lowered his head, as if he could avoid His Majesty's gaze by doing so.

They've made a mistake again!

Because they recruited most of the new soldiers and captured the land effortlessly along the way, the mentality of these soldiers changed.

Such a phenomenon is not uncommon on the battlefield, but it was quickly contained.

The bows and arrows from behind and the expressionless veterans woke them up, and some friendly veterans even shouted at them: "Don't drag down the loved ones at home, don't shame our lord, soldier.

There is no way to survive by retreating, but only by moving forward can you gain a glimmer of hope. "

The words were motivating, but it didn't help their situation. People who deserve to die will die anyway. Most of them know their mission, which is to serve as cannon fodder and find out the emptiness of the enemy's defense.

But things are not always so absolute. If they can find the weak point of the enemy's defense during this trial, and use this to step on the city wall, then there will be a steady stream of soldiers to help.

Even if they break through the city, even though they may die and not enjoy much treatment, the superiors can obtain their information by relying on their military cards.

And to give their descendants a knighthood, this is not their imagination, but a promise from the king himself. Although the possibility of this is very small, it is their only hope.

Even without these rewards, they still need to attack the city. This is the price they have to pay for being supported by the lord.

They are not afraid of death, which comes from the supervision of the war team, and more from the hope brought by the class of changing themselves/their descendants.

Even if it is just a knight without a fief, their descendants can get a better education.

And it is more likely to continue this glory, and even become a noble after a long period of accumulation.

Since ancient times, people have shown the greatest enthusiasm for class promotion.

As the last soldier fell, they didn't get any information that could be used. Looking at the full defenders standing on the city wall, the catapult began to exert its power again.

Countless broken stones flew towards the city head, because the stones were not big, but there were too many of them. The soldiers immediately raised their shields and squatted on the ground to resist this attack.

The shield sank along with the force of the gravel, and then rolled to the ground.

Although he knew this would be the case for a long time, His Majesty Shabotai still couldn't help being irritated. He swept across the border nobles with a gloomy face, obviously dissatisfied with their organized attack this time, because they sent even recruits up.

"Be prepared to continue the attack in one hour. I hope there will be no deserters next time. Where are your knights? Send them all to me. If this is still the case, then you should prepare yourself.

Rest assured, as long as you die bravely, your title and territory will be inherited by your heirs.

Let the craftsmen continue to build the siege ladder, we need more siege equipment, if there is not enough wood, go to a farther place to cut wood for me.

At the same time, build more shooting walls, dig trenches and build wooden roofs. I want my soldiers to be able to reach their city without any damage.

If there are not enough stones, go to a farther place to quarry the stones, and then transport them over. The trebuchets continue to bombard once every half an hour, and don't use those crushed stones anymore. "

After His Majesty Shabotai finished speaking, he left the scene directly, leaving the nobles present looking at each other in blank dismay.

Facing the ridicule from other nobles, the border nobles had no interest in quarreling because their own lives were already hanging by a thread.

They knew that a general attack might be launched today, so they didn't have any other thoughts. Of course, it was their nature to be afraid of death. They had to arrange the next wave of attacks, and at the same time promised them great benefits and made it clear that they were powerful.

Under the command of the affairs officer, more civilians were sent out, and they began to go further to cut down trees, quarry stones, and then transport them to the front line one by one, and build more offensives under the command of craftsmen. City equipment.

Building more siege equipment is not something they will need after an hour, because things like siege ladders and flying ladders cannot be sent out in one trial.

They have to consider the follow-up attack, and they also undertake the task of consuming the enemy's defense tools. This is a process of confrontation and consumption, to see who is more prepared.

After the opponent has replaced more infantry, their gravel attack is no longer a threat. Originally, the gravel is for the pursuit of more damage. Of course, it can be replaced with a larger and heavier gravel. If this is the case, it is better to directly replace it with boulder.

This will cause more psychological pressure on them and prevent them from getting a better rest. In order to avoid them, they will inevitably be exhausted, so as to give them a better combat environment for the next attack.

His Majesty Shabotai, who returned to the main tent, became more and more irritable as he thought about it. Considering that there were still some new recruits in the next wave, he planned to teach those people a lesson that would be a disaster for future generations, and at the same time warned some naughty veterans.

He called the herald and gave him the oral order, asking him to tell more heralds to read it to the entire army. Time was running out and he had to implement more stringent regulations.

"Have someone pick up all the military badges of those deserters, and ask the clerk to register their names, and obtain their residential addresses and family information from the army.

For such an act that shakes the morale of the military, their families will bear more taxes, and one of their descendants will be sent to the army as a slave.

As for future land distribution, they will be ranked behind everyone else, and they will only be entitled to the most barren land.

This is their price for being deserters. "

Considering the fierce land disputes in the kingdom and the fact that deserters were only a very small number of soldiers, this punishment was severe enough.

The herald immediately took the order and passed it on to his soldiers, asking them to go to the barracks of the nobles to read it.

An hour later, many soldiers were ready, and the nobles and knights ran back and forth in front of the formation, promising them more benefits, and these benefits were nothing more than land and money, and even the promotion of the class.

Although it was not the first time they heard such remarks, it still made them feel excited. The nobles looked at all this with satisfaction. These were tried and true tricks, and they were ready to throw out another piece of news.

An older knight stood in front of the formation, looked at those young faces, and said solemnly: "I will accompany you to fight and win together. I don't understand the big truth, but I know that we What is this battle for.

There is very little arable land left in the Kingdom, what is happening to our country every day?There are bloody conflicts over land everywhere.

My family, including the families of everyone here, are waiting for news of our victory and for us to acquire more land for them.

That being the case, why can't we fight to get more land? Why should we be afraid of bloodshed? "

The soldiers present began to remember their original intentions, and at the same time, the propaganda words from the kingdom still emerged from the depths of their minds.

They recalled the declaration they made before setting off for the expedition, their initial determination and the expectant looks in their families' eyes.

Their eyes began to become firm, and they didn't think about being a victim of temptation. They clenched the weapon in their hands, held it tightly, and held up their shields at the same time, bursting out bursts of screams .

The movement here quickly attracted the attention of the phalanx, and under the spontaneous propaganda of the soldiers, more people became high-spirited, and this sentiment quickly infected the entire Hastings army.

They beat their shields with their weapons, and there were angry shouts of killing.

What the king said to them, what the nobles said to them, what the knights said to them, because of their different classes, they couldn't resonate with them.

What the same soldiers said to them instantly ignited their fighting spirit and made them ready to sacrifice.

The changes in the entire army quickly attracted the attention of His Majesty Shabotai. He looked at the gray-bearded knight in front of him. His name was William, a very common and popular name.

He wanted to keep this person, but he couldn't.

Because he has become the soul of the entire army, if he steps off the battlefield, it will have a huge impact on the morale of the entire army.

He didn't have any extra words, but walked forward, arranged his armor himself, and sent him his blessing.

That opportunity finally appeared. Although it did not come from the enemy, but with such high morale, he decided not to test it anymore, but directly launched a general attack.

Their number of soldiers is large enough, and they have enough opportunities for trial and error, so such a good opportunity should not be wasted. Perhaps the weakness of the city wall will also emerge at this time.

His Majesty Shabotai immediately shouted: "Where is the herald?"

"exist."

The herald immediately knelt down on one knee, ready to listen to the king's order.

"Order the entire army to prepare for a general attack, and at the same time send an order to the Ebon Blade Knights to prepare to participate in the siege. Let the Ebon Blade Knights step on the siege ladder first, and we will attack the city in front of us in one go.

The rest of the positions will be filled by the knights of each family. Today I will have a drink with everyone in the city to celebrate our victory! "

Immediately, the herald's eyes lit up and he ordered to leave.

His Majesty Shabotai paced back and forth, "Where is the flag officer?"

As the king's flag moved, the flag officer led hundreds of soldiers to come, "Here."

"Follow me, wait until the war begins, move the king's flag forward, and cheer for the knights and soldiers."

His Majesty Shabotai has used everything at his disposal, his morale has been boosted to the limit, and he has the greatest expectations for this attack.

If this battle could not be won, then they could only evacuate the city and fight to the death with the Kingdom of Rhodes on this plain. He didn't want to just go back in such a desperate manner.

Because that would be a stain on his reign and an immeasurable blow to his prestige, and he would never want to start a war against other kingdoms in this life, because the nobles in the country would inevitably refuse to respond to a failed king.

Domestic conflicts did not allow him to fail. If they retreated, they would only fall into endless internal strife, and even set off a struggle to overthrow the royal power.

After all, the conditions for dumping the pot have already been met, and those nobles will not give up this opportunity, this opportunity to enter the royal city to loot.

The Knights of the Black Blade who have received the order are ready. As their name suggests, they wear black armor and have expressionless faces. They will turn into His Majesty's most powerful blades and break through the enemy's strongest defense.

They even dared to face the gun formation and charge!
They silently checked their shields, and after confirming that they were correct, they began to gather behind the siege ladder.

Because they know what they need to do, they need to use the short distance of the pontoon bridge to launch a charge, use their shields to support the enemy and at the same time hold that small foothold so that more soldiers can charge up.

For this reason, they put on strong iron shields, and they completely gave up the possibility of attacking. All they needed to do was defend, defend, they could only move forward, not retreat, not even one step.

After waiting for the siege order to be issued, they will climb up the siege ladder first, because the moving siege ladder is very shaking and is not suitable for climbing, or they can only wait for it to get close to the city wall before climbing.

They are as silent as a group of death knights, in stark contrast to the surrounding environment shouting loudly. If you observe carefully, you will find that their eyes are like talking about stagnant water, without any fluctuations.

The noble knights also began to stand by after the siege ladder. They were also silent, the difference was that they knew that this trip would be fatal, but they knew that they had no choice.

They can only choose to die gloriously. There have been no knights who have escaped since ancient times. They do not want to be the first to be nailed to the pillar of shame since ancient times, becoming a talking point for the common people or a negative example for the knights' attendants.

As a knight, they have enjoyed better material and treatment. Now it is time to sacrifice their lives for the lord. One step back is the abyss, and one step forward may be the road to prosperity.

As the messengers running around kept shouting "attack", hundreds of siege ladders began to move slowly. The difference this time is that the soldiers carrying the ladders have already rushed out first, and they will attract the attention of the enemy .

To gain more space for the thousands of knights on the siege ladder to advance, yes, they were cannon fodder, but their emotions had been exaggerated to the extreme. They quickly and unswervingly rushed towards the city wall with the ladder.

(End of this chapter)