Eagle Byzantium

Instantly, the bombardment stopped, both the cannons and the light artillery.

About half an hour later, the bombardment started again.

Gawain, who was supervising the battle on the mountain peak, saw countless meteors rushing to shoot at the walls of Marash, and the whole mountain fort was trembling in the smoke and explosions.

"Get up, get up!" Whistles and flutes sounded noisily, and rows of shooting soldiers who were originally crouching at the entrance of the fence stood up while shouting "The Song of the Fire Throwers". They spit the saffron in their mouths on the ground, stepped on it with their boots, stood up, carrying forks, heavy guns, long guns, shrimp-whisker cannons, light artillery carts, etc., and took advantage of the time when the guards on the battlements were suppressed by the artillery to cross their own trenches, fences and earth ramparts, braved the flying guns from the battlements. Cold arrows, tenaciously enduring casualties, advanced to a distance of about 150 feet below the city wall, lined up, "shoot, shoot!" The next posture of this group of shooting soldiers was not half-kneeling, but similar to archers throwing, raising the muskets or placing them on the fork, raising the muzzles to point to the direction of the city wall, "bang bang bang" the bodies of the front row twisted due to the recoil, and then they retreated, and the next row took over and began to shoot fiercely in turn. Countless lead bullets hit the gate tower, the city gate and the battlements like water, and smoke rolled and filled the air. The city gate and the stone wall were riddled with bullet holes in a short time.

Soon, countless brigade soldiers and border residents carried the temporary ladders, ran through the positions, leaned on the walls of Marash, and began to climb bravely. On the city walls and below, the defenders and the attackers fired at each other with muskets and bows and arrows. At this time, the bullets from the friendly forces were often more dangerous than the enemy's arrows - many ladders were broken, and many attackers were hit and fell from the rear.

"Charge, charge!" Dorus was also wearing a striking armor, waving his sword, standing under the city wall and constantly encouraging his soldiers to keep going forward, "Don't be afraid of the lead bullets shot by our musketeers. The lead bullets blessed by Saint Barbara can distinguish between the enemy and us." Two of his horses were killed, and the young military leader stood directly by the trench, commanding his subordinates to climb and attack.

At this time, the battle to attack the west and south walls also began. The same cannons and guns fired in unison, and then the brigade infantry and border residents attacked the city. In the Philomelon Brigade, Bramson also waved a long sword, wearing ordinary armor (obviously a sign of long-term experience in battle) and rushed up the ladder. "The reward for the Grand Patron is a full 2,000 gold coins. Just now, the candidate was actually Dorus Lambert. I don't accept it. From Deutschland to Anatolia, I, Bramson, have never been empty-handed!" He was also scrambling for time, and deliberately hung a sundial in front of his breastplate to check the time.

In the corresponding Marash Fort, about 3,000 defenders also fought endlessly. Most of them calmed down after the terrifying bombardment, bravely returned to their posts to defend the battlements, raised their bows and arrows to shoot at the shooting army of the Gawain Brigade, or used various tools to destroy the ladders. The whole fortress was like a cauldron in boiling water and fire.

The regent Fer, who had previously been determined to live and die with the castle, also stood on the most eye-catching tower, standing under the Armenian lion war flag that was riddled with holes, inspiring the morale of the entire army. He also kept cheering his men, "The Great Emir of Danishmond has broken through the interception of Gawain's army and will be here in one to two days. The reinforcements of King Kildewan of Aleppo are also about to arrive at the south river of the castle. The emperor of Constantinople has already entered Gawain's heartland, and he is struggling like a trapped beast. As long as we find a way to hold on, everything will get better."

Three hours passed, and under the brave resistance of the Armenian soldiers on guard, the first two rounds of attacks were defeated, and no wall was effective, with hundreds of casualties. It was already afternoon, and Gawain called Leotius, the commander-in-chief of the north gate, and said sternly, "There is still one more opportunity to attack before sunset, and this is the last round."

"Yes, yes. Please believe in our artillery corps, Grand Patron."

"I do, but Marash Fortress does not. I underestimated the Ani people before. Facts have proved that they are the best soldiers in the world and the best hill fort designers. So, Sir Leotius, if we cannot capture this place tomorrow, I will have to disband the artillery corps, that's it." The Grand Patron gave the final ultimatum with a serious face.

In the evening, all the artillery forts opened fire again like raindrops, and the jagged battlements on the top of Marash were all flattened. Many iron shells and stone shells jumped into the city in an arc, smashing various facilities everywhere and killing people everywhere. The last soldiers of the Tarsus Guards found that it was difficult to set up ladders on the bare and flattened city wall, but after the artillery volley, countless brigade soldiers still rushed to the city wall...

At this time, a stone bullet finally worked. Amidst the huge cheers, it overturned a section of the city wall that was already shaky and had no time to be repaired. The broken stones and bricks that fell down buried and engulfed more than a dozen soldiers and craftsmen on it.

"Long live, long live, Hallelujah!" Dolus pointed his sword there. The attacking troops were all blocked opposite the fatal gap in the city wall fired by the artillery. They stood or squatted. Every three or four people were responsible for a long musket, shooting continuously, firing a lot of fire and smoke to prevent the defenders from counterattacking. Then groups of soldiers holding shields and axes began to approach like a tide, trying to rush into the city.

The Armenian soldiers in the city crouched in the rubble behind the broken city wall, enduring the fire cannons fired from the opposite side. It was not until they saw Gao Wenfang's infantry rushing towards them that they stood up with shouts and also waved various weapons to fight fiercely.

The setting red sun reflected on the faces of the Armenian soldiers, some young or those with years of experience. Many of them were hit by axes or pickaxes coming down from the opposite side at the next freeze-frame moment. Their eyeballs, nose bones, brains and blood were all shot out, leaving them unrecognizable. .

At this time, Fel, who looked melancholy and had a hint of despair, accompanied by several guard warriors, came to the inner hall of the castle, where the widow of Kusus knelt on the ground in tears and grabbed his armor. , begging him to surrender or escape, "This castle has lost all hope. After you men have shown off your heroic spirit, will it be our women's turn to use our bodies to please the victor and survive? You have to, too." Think of me, even though we are a dewy couple."

Fehr was so angry that he pushed the beautiful widow away, but then he saw on the side of the hall facing the city wall, a stone bullet fired from Gawain's cannon was smoking and standing there, it penetrated There is a Sanhe earth lime wall, half of which is exposed inside, and the other half is exposed to the outside. The widow must have been so frightened by the flying bullet just now that she collapsed.