Chapter 25: The Recovery of the Royal Capital 2
Chapter 25: The Recovery of the Royal Capital 2
On both sides of the northern gate of Jingyao Fortress, the ascent ladders of a siege vehicle were set up on top of the wall, and the soldiers of the King’s Army were desperately climbing upwards while holding up their shields to defend themselves against the arrows, hot oil and even boiled fecal juices that were thrown down by the rebels.
Some siege wagons doused with hot oil were ignited by the rebels with rockets, the fire quickly engulfed the siege wagons, the soldiers whose bodies were on fire had to jump down directly from the upper level, and there were many unfortunate soldiers who didn’t make it out, and the smell of burnt human flesh filled the air everywhere.
The first group of soldiers of the king’s army wearing thick armor, one hand holding a sword, one hand holding a shield, forcefully blocking away the rebel soldiers’ sword slashes and axes, leaping from the siege wagon into the city wall, the soldiers behind them quickly followed, constantly expanding the breakthrough.
For a while, the city wall was filled with shouts of killing.
Killing battle to noon, the attacking and defending sides are very tired, Duke Walker ordered to pause the attack, the rebel side took the opportunity to reorganize and rest.
……
In a private house near the north city gate, several people sat in the living room with sad faces.
“How many men were lost in the morning?” Hals, the former commander of the city guards and now the head of the rebels, asked wearily.
“About four hundred of our old brethren ……,” a henchman replied cautiously.
Hals touched his forehead breathlessly, and as for the loss of the militia that had been forcibly recruited, he didn’t bother to ask.
At this moment, Hals, remorse, annoyance, fear, all kinds of emotions repeatedly haunting his mind.
Trapped in a lonely city, the expected reinforcements were slow to arrive, while the diligent army did not need to think about it to know that they were constantly converging in the vicinity.
He cursed viciously, “Damn Giles! Go to hell!”
He himself usually made an appearance of a royal loyal dog, but in fact, he had been secretly communicating with Giles, and because he had always been cautious, he hadn’t been able to slip up, and was still firmly occupying the position of the commander of the city guards.
This time, when the great princess led an expedition to the highlands, Giles finally couldn’t hold back his ambition and took the opportunity to rise up in rebellion, and sent someone to inform him to rise up in response before the princess’s army returned.
At first, he refused to do so, your army is still far away, let me do something in the royal capital is not looking for death?
But then the receiver said that the Duke of Dodge in the south has fallen to Jarls, the biggest obstacle to the army to the north has been cleared, the other small lords are not enough to worry about, but also promised him that once the matter is accomplished, he will be awarded the earldom.
I want to make a big achievement in my own head, if I wait until Giles’ army reaches the entrance of the royal capital before I respond, will it not make him look down on himself, if I control the Jingyao and capture the king first, this achievement can definitely overshadow anyone in Giles’ camp.
Then he himself rebelled, and other than not capturing the king, the rest was pretty smooth. The city guard chain of command had been cleansed, the disobedient officers killed and imprisoned, and the entire army was under one’s control.
After imprisoning a class of ministers from the palace and getting rid of a few pricks, the nobles who stayed in the royal capital now neither explicitly oppose him nor support him. Never mind, let’s wait for Giles to come and personally clean up this bunch of wallflowers.
There are still quite a few nobles who ran away during the chaotic moments of the uprising, he doesn’t care, let them run away to cause trouble for Her Highness, just leave the property behind.
Waiting until he had done what he needed to do, the army of Giles in the connector’s mouth was unexpectedly late. He felt that the big thing is not good, he immediately sent people to the south to explore, the news that came back to him want to vomit blood: Dodge family did not fall to Jarls, the north army is still blocked in the thorns under the pass it.
“Finished finished finished finished ……” This is his only thought after being informed of the news.
But there was no way back for him now, and after enjoying a period of monopolizing power, he was more than willing to give up everything in front of him to abscond quietly. He was determined to take a big gamble and hold the royal capital until Giles’ army arrived.
The diligent king’s army quickly gathered near the royal capital, and after waiting for the princess’s army to return, launched an offensive this morning, he moved his command to the vicinity of the north gate where the king’s army was attacking, and personally commanded the defense, and after a morning of fear and trepidation, he finally repelled the first wave of the attack.
He was just about to take a nap when suddenly the trumpets sounded again.
A soldier rushed in hurriedly, “Lord Halls, the enemy is attacking again, the defenders on the wall are requesting for reinforcements or they won’t be able to hold out.”
Halls decisively ordered, “Draw half of the troops from each of the other directions to reinforce the north gate, after repelling this wave of attack, open the gates while the enemy retreats, I will personally lead a counter wave.”
“Yes!” The soldier led the order and left.
No one noticed that the two officers in the hall imperceptibly and quietly glanced at each other.
“Lord Halls, although the enemy is only attacking the northern gate right now, the other directions cannot be taken lightly, please allow me to check the guard once more.”
“You’re right, go ahead and keep an eye on those bastards for me.” For some of his men, he really wasn’t very confident.
……
“Your Highness, the carrier pigeon has sent word that it’s time to attack.” Ofina reported the enemy situation to Catherine.
In the dense forest outside the east gate, the main force of the king’s army of 25,000 men was hidden, waiting for this moment. Catherine drew her matching sword, turned and shouted, “Soldiers, the long-awaited moment has arrived. Many of you have parents, wives and children in this city, and now it is time to free them from the hands of the rebels. Show your loyalty to your country, long live Aldo!”
“Long live Aldo!”
“Aldo shall prevail!”
The generals responded to Catherine with cheer after cheer.
“Sound the trumpets and attack-” Catherine ordered.
As the horn blew, the officers and soldiers of the King’s army rushed out of the dense forest, carrying ladders and battering rams, and rattled the eastern gate, and the real attack began.
……
The second wave of the attack on the northern gate was repulsed, and the soldiers of the King’s Army retreated in the direction where the attack was launched.
Hals ordered the gates to be opened and yelled to the five hundred cavalry behind him, “Brothers, give these bastards some color and reward each of them with five gold coins when they come back.” After saying that, he smacked his horse’s ass hard and charged towards the retreating soldiers of the king’s army, the cavalry behind him charging closely after him.
The retreating king’s army didn’t expect the enemy to be able to counterattack and was caught off guard, for a moment they couldn’t stop the 500+ cavalry from charging left and right.
However, just as Hals was venting out his indignation from the past few days and making a big kill, he glimpsed a rider charging towards him from the city gates, shouting something anxiously as he did so.
As the rider got closer, he finally heard what the other was shouting.
“The east gate is out of defense, please send troops to support it quickly, my lord.”
Halls’ eyes went black and he almost fell off his horse.
“Lord Halls! Lord Halls?” The rider anxiously called out to him, nothing could happen to the commander at this juncture.
Halls stabilized his body and suddenly thrust out the riding lance in his hand.
The rider had an expression of disbelief, staring wide-eyed at the riding lance that stabbed into his chest before falling off his horse and dying.
“Haha! You lied to me, you lied to me!”
Already mad, Hals threw off his helmet as he lifted his riding lance and started charging once again, charging towards where the enemy soldiers were densest.
His maniacal voice drifted across the battlefield:
“You lied to me, you all lied to me!”
……
On Mount Rabson near the royal capital, two people dressed as merchants silently watched the fight in the distance.
“Alas–” one of the youths with frivolous eyes and an earring in his right ear sighed.
“Lord Halls has been careful for so many years, but he capsized at the last minute, what a pity.”
“Hmph, don’t pretend to be compassionate there, if it wasn’t for you side-stepping him there, I’d probably not be able to hook him into the little things in his heart even if I were to talk my way out of it. But this guy is also wasteful enough, only lasted one day and finished.”
The one who answered was a middle-aged man with a mustache.
“People, you can’t be too greedy. If the princess doesn’t go back to the royal capital and goes directly south on the east road, and old man Dodge attacks from both sides, the one who will have a hard time at that time will be His Highness the Grand Duke. The princess made such a big detour, the extra time is more than just a day.”
“Hmph, I know without you saying it. By the way, is your gift to that princess ready?”
“Hehe, how could I dare to be negligent and slack in treating such a beauty?”
The corners of the young man’s mouth rose slightly, and an evil smile appeared on his face.
(End of chapter)