Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

If time is limited, then it is inevitable to lose sight of one thing and lose another.

When the Duke of Bedford transformed the city defense system to deal with France's superior artillery, he overlooked one point: some special animals have climbing abilities far superior to humans.

Chapter 220 Two Great Rebellion

The ironback goat is not a native species of this earth, but came to this world with the dwarves because of the convergence of the celestial sphere.

It gets its name because of the metallic gray down on its back.

Due to the difficulty of feeding on the earth, the number of ironback goats has always been small, and the entire Swiss region is only in the early [-]s.In addition to being used as a means of transportation in the mountains, it is also used as a tool of war.

It's just that sheep are less intelligent and less courageous than horses, and it is more difficult to domesticate them into combat mounts. Therefore, there are only two thousand goat cavalry in the entire Swiss Dwarf Federation.

The mobility and impact of goat cavalry on the plains are not as good as regular human cavalry, and they are too precious. Therefore, when the dwarf mercenary group goes out to fight for the human monarch, they will basically not use this type of arms, which leads to the lack of awareness of goat cavalry in the outside world. , thinking that this is a special mount that only a few high-level dwarven generals can have.

The reason why Ma Youfu was able to obtain this batch of precious goat cavalry was due to Vera.

When he remembered this incident in Mocheng, he immediately wrote to the dark elf girl.

At that time, Vera happened to be in Switzerland, dealing with several mines handed over to Mayouf by the Habsburgs as Albrecht's ransom.

Vera quickly reached a new mining agreement with the surrounding dwarf clans, and by paying enough remuneration, she won the trust of the dwarves.

So when Ma Youfu asked whether the dwarves could provide a group of goat cavalry mercenaries to support the battle, he quickly got a positive answer.

Even Volga was surprised when the hundred goat cavalry joined the French ranks.

As a shield dwarf, he knows best how important the ironback goat is in dwarf society.It was the first time that a human noble could be served by goat cavalry.

At that time, he immediately suggested to Ma Youfu to use these goat cavalry who can easily climb an [-]-degree slope as a trump card to break through the city of Paris in one fell swoop.

But Ma Youfu refused.

Goat cavalry can only be used as a surprise when it is first thrown into battle.Then it loses its meaning.Therefore, he had to let these dwarven cavalry achieve great results in the first battle to be worthy of the high commission he paid.

So just relying on a hundred goat cavalry to attack the city wall of Paris, can they stand firm and provide enough support for the follow-up troops to win the entire battle?

The answer is difficult.

The Duke of Bedford was no mediocre general.

In fact, he has never lost a battle he personally commanded.

You can say that the Duke of Bedford was lucky and didn't meet Joan of Arc, but his record of victory against France is enough to prove his military talent.

It is obviously whimsical to want to rely on opportunistic surprise attacks to capture Paris, which has been run by the Duke of Bedford for a long time.

That's why Ma Youfu put these goat cavalry into the attack on Pontoise.

At this time, the goat cavalry passed through the battlefield where arrows were raining and arrived under the city wall.

The British army, who was shooting at the Genoese crossbowmen and cottage longbowmen who had set up a large shield under the city, immediately spotted this strange army.

Sir Adams, the commander of the garrison, immediately began to mobilize his troops and strengthen the defense of the city wall to deal with this strange cavalry force.

But at this moment, the French shelling began again.

After the 24-pound lava rock bomb was sent into the sky by the mortar, it drew a high-throw arc in the dark night and hit the wall accurately.

The defenders, who had been lined up neatly and ready to fight, immediately fell into chaos.

The explosion and the screams of the guarding soldiers, like horns, made the goat cavalry attack.

Talbot witnessed a scene that made sweaty palms in the distance: iron-backed goats in armor and heavily armed dwarf warriors on their backs, with unimaginable agility and swiftness, kept running on the sloping city wall. Jumping and galloping like walking on the ground, they finally climbed to the top of the city and began to massacre the soldiers who were thrown into confusion by the shelling.

"Does that French witch have the ability to predict the timing of the shelling so accurately!" Talbot couldn't help but sigh.

Coordination and cooperation between arms has always been a big problem.

Even for the U.S. military with the blessing of informatization in later generations, how to provide fire support without accidentally injuring friendly troops is still a problem, otherwise the concept of "danger_close" would not have been invented.

But Joan of Arc dared to order the bombardment when the goat cavalry gathered under the city, and then immediately began to attack.

If it wasn't that this woman was insane and didn't care about accidentally injuring friendly troops, it was that she had extremely keen battlefield intuition and was able to give the most appropriate order at the most appropriate time.

Seeing the critical situation, Bernhard suggested: "My lord, we should do something. Do you want to try to attack the French army again? Or at least gather around the enemy so that they don't dare to attack the city with all their strength, for Pontoise Take some pressure off."

"No need." Talbot almost exhausted his strength to squeeze out the words from his mouth.

When the goat cavalry climbed to the top of the city under the cover of artillery fire, the follow-up French infantry followed closely behind, carrying ladders to the bottom of the city wall and began to climb.

Joan of Arc took the lead holding the battle flag, and beside her was a fearsome giant knight and an agile swordsman, protecting her wings.

Even if Sir Adams has extraordinary combat power, it is impossible to block such a combination.

The fall of Pontoise is only a matter of time.

The honor of the Teutonic Knights made Bernhard unable to bear the powerlessness of sitting and watching his own city be captured. He roared: "Earl Talbot, can we just do nothing?"

"Of course there is something to do."

Bernhard's eyes lit up, but then the other party's answer made him depressed again.

"I will immediately write a letter to the French commander, asking her to ensure the safety of the British prisoners as much as possible. Then ask the Duke to pay the ransom as soon as possible." Talbot's voice was a bit bitter, "Defending Paris is our ultimate goal. Goals. Every English fighter is a valuable asset."

Seeing that Bernhard was still aggrieved, in order to appease the Germans and prevent him from doing some Showa actions and worsening the situation, Talbot had to continue to explain: "Although Pontoise is important, it lost this fortress. , does not mean that the Seven Saints have abandoned us. There are only [-] Frenchmen, and it is impossible to completely surround Paris. We can still get supplies from Normandy by land. And..."

Although the next words were a bit outrageous, Talbot hesitated and continued: "And, when the safest waterway is cut off, will His Royal Highness return to England immediately after the coronation ceremony? Something to discuss. It would actually be good for the campaign if he stayed in Paris."

Chapter 220 Three Loggers

It is of course a good thing for this defensive battle to have the king boost morale in the city.And the Duke of Gloucester, who is far away in London, must spare no effort to support Paris and defeat the French.

Otherwise, no one can bear the responsibility of the king's capture.

But on the other hand, deliberately putting a cowardly and timid little king on the front line of danger, this kind of behavior can easily make people question their loyalty.

Bernhard was speechless for a moment.

If he hadn't known that Talbot was a veteran general who had fought for England since the time of Henry V, and his loyalty was unquestionable, he would have doubted whether the other party was a French spy.

As a mercenary who took money to fight, the Teutonic Knights couldn't say anything, but they finally gave up the idea of ​​​​attacking the French positions to rescue Pontoise.

"The situation of the siege tonight - including every detail, must be kept in mind and reported to the Duke of Bedford." He changed the subject and said, "especially the new weapons and new units of the French army. "

Talbot nodded, and laughed loudly: "I thought that the French witch who could confuse people's hearts, and the scheming Siris, were so difficult to deal with. Now it seems that their reputation is like that of bards." The ballad is full of exaggeration and nonsense. They used the new artillery and the goat cavalry who can climb the wall in the battle to attack a small fortress. Then we will naturally have countermeasures in the battle of Paris. We will be able to fight in one fell swoop It's so stupid to waste the bargaining chips that change the situation of the battle in an irrelevant battle!"

Bernhard knew that he was addressing the surrounding English soldiers.Watching Pontoise fall and doing nothing, he had to say something to restore the low morale.

After appeasing his subordinates and writing a letter to Joan of Arc, Talbot led his army back to Paris.

Behind him, the white battle flag of the saint was flying over the city of Pontoise.

In the Louvre, he met the Duke of Bedford.

After telling the story of today's battle, Talbot knelt on one knee and pleaded guilty to the Duke.

No matter how you make excuses, losing Pontoise is a major defeat in this campaign.

But the Duke of Bedford didn't blame him much, he just waved his hand and told him to stand up.

"It is enough that you have not caused our cavalry to suffer heavy losses. If the defenders of Pontoise can be successfully redeemed, then in general, our defensive strength has not been weakened too much. This battle will end Who will win and who will lose, even Tangus, the god of war, cannot predict."

The Duke of Bedford was relieved, and all the servants in the room retreated.

After a long silence, he said to Talbot: "However, since almost all the outer lines of defense have fallen, we cannot defend Paris. We must find a way to take the initiative to reverse the situation!"

As the current No. [-] figure in the British army, with Talbot's vision and insight, he naturally knew why the Duke of Bedford made the decision to take the initiative to take risks.

Although at the previous military meeting, the Duke of Bedford, through a series of detailed calculations and analysis, came to the conclusion that "Charles VII's income is not enough to support such an army for a long time, as long as it persists, the enemy will collapse on its own." .

But Talbot knew that this was actually just the most optimistic estimate, a whitewash used to boost morale.

If Charles VII had no money, wouldn't he convene a three-level meeting to collect special taxes from nobles and citizens by transferring power?

Even if the French nobles and wealthy businessmen disobeyed, couldn't Charles VII go to Italian businessmen to borrow money?

The income from the royal territory, the income from the mines, and various taxation powers can all be used as collateral in exchange for large sums of ducats or florins.

The war potential of Charles VII is far stronger than what the Duke of Bedford declared at the military conference.

It's just that nobles who don't understand economics can't see through this.Aristocrats who understand economics will not point out this point for the sake of the overall situation.

The two outstanding military nobles glanced at each other and said in unison: "Duke of Orleans!"

The biggest weakness of the French army today is that more than 3 people are divided into two parts that do not belong to each other.

One part, the number is small, but well-equipped and well-trained, led by the resourceful Sirisian Ma Youfu, and the French witch who can deceive people, and has many excellent generals as the backbone.

The other section, larger in number but of varying quality, was commanded by the famous embroidered pillows of the Duke of Orléans.

Obviously, the former is a tough nut to crack, and the latter is the key to breaking the siege of Paris.

"Today, more than half of Mayouf's army is in Pontoise. Although his Paris camp has Jean Brou in charge and the defense is solid, it is absolutely unable to send troops to support the friendly army. Therefore, if we launch an assault on the Duke of Orleans tomorrow, It is very possible to defeat this patchwork army." Talbot clenched his fists excitedly.

Today, for the sake of the overall situation, he had to swallow the bitter fruit of failure, and the depression in his heart can be imagined.Now that he has a chance to regain his disadvantage, the fighting spirit in his heart burns like a flame.

The Duke of Bedford could feel the opponent's desire to fight, he patted Talbot on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "The Duke of Orleans is attacking Vincennes Forest regardless of the cost, and wants to win the stupid bet with the Sires, His army is exhausted. I will give you all the cavalry, and three thousand longbowmen and one thousand hoplites, and thirty guns. Attack tomorrow morning, and let those frog-eating Frenchmen Taste the taste of failure!"

……

The spirit of the Duke of Orleans is not very good.

Yesterday morning, he launched an attack almost at the same time as Joan.

While the latter was still entangled with the English cavalry on the plains, his troops had already broken through the outer walls of the Vincennes Forest and made rapid progress.

Therefore, the Duke of Orleans handed over the combat command to his adjutant, and then went back to the camp to rest.

Although the British stationed a small but very capable force at the Castle of Dongrong, they successfully repelled several attacks by the French army. The tug-of-war lasted throughout the day, but the Duke of Orleans was not in a hurry.

He didn't know Joan's progress, and he didn't think that the other party could quickly capture Pontoise, so he didn't let the troops risk attacking at night.

For the medieval army, even the most elite troops and the wisest commanders did not dare to try such things as night battles lightly.

As a result, Joan not only did it, but succeeded.

When the Duke of Orleans woke up early the next morning from his two pairs of long legs, he received the news that Joan of Arc had captured Pontoise.

Realizing that he had lost the bet, the Duke of Orleans was furious at first, and then a strong unwillingness surged in his heart.

Even if he loses the bet, he still has to defend his honor and capture Dongrong Castle!

Therefore, the Duke of Orleans, who had dark circles under his eyes because of his excessive indulgence last night, immediately ordered an attack.

"My lord, the terrain of Wensen Forest is complicated, and it is difficult to deploy siege equipment and artillery. We need to open up enough ground first, and we must not be in a hurry." Adjutant Hui reported.

"Then do it quickly and find all the loggers in the villages around Paris!"