Chapter 263: Burson Siege II
Bursen Castle is built on the hillside without a moat. Although trenches were dug and antlers were installed, because the trebuchets of the three provincial coalition forces had a long range and suppressed the long-range attack force at the city head, the antlers were moved and cut off on the first day, and the trenches were filled in. Gascoigne marched The coalition of provincial nobles even boarded the city and caused some casualties to the enemy.
According to the normal siege progress, it is not too slow.
The siege lasted from morning to evening. The coalition of Gascoyne nobles organized four battles. The casualties on the first day exceeded 400 people. Under Richard's strict order, it can be said that they tried their best.
By the evening, the spirit of this army was extremely tense, with more than one tenth of the casualties. If it were not for the large number of supervising troops blocking the back, they might have collapsed today.
After all, we were fighting a war of aggression, not resisting the orcs or protecting our families. The soldiers' ability to withstand casualties was not high. In just one day, morale had dropped to the extreme.
In the evening, Richard personally inspected the wounded barracks, sent doctors from the Harland territory to treat the wounded, distributed liquor and meat, and expressed condolences to the coalition of nobles in Gascoigne Province, which restored the morale of the officers and soldiers a little.
After the tour, Richard returned to the Chinese army's tent and summoned the senior officers of the coalition forces.
The decoration of Richard's big tent is very simple, similar to that of ordinary soldiers' military tents. It's just that there are more than a dozen people living in the ordinary soldiers' tents, and there is only one person in Richard's tent, which looks slightly more spacious.
Two thick candles were lit in the big tent, illuminating the interior furnishings particularly brightly. A simple map of the Grand Duchy of Stanik hangs on the east side, and there are three rows of chairs on the west side, a total of more than twenty chairs. The layout is a bit messy.
When it was about nine o'clock in the evening, the main officers had settled down their camp affairs and came to the Chinese army's tent.
Because the place is relatively small, some lower-ranking officers can only stay outside.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Richard got straight to the point and said: "Everyone knows the situation well. Among the three armies, our middle coalition army is the slowest to assemble, and the food in hand is the shortest. In addition, Captain Morgan has collected the most in recent days. Food, our food reserves are only for forty-five days.
Although the grain road is relatively smooth, the food shortage is serious in the area responsible for supplying the Central Route Army. Only 1,200 tons of grain can be transported in forty-five days. Now that the enemy has carried out the order to strengthen the walls and clear the country, we only have one and a half months left.
If there is no progress in one and a half months, we can only turn south, join up with the Southern Route Army, and go south to beg for food.
When the war situation develops to this point, the coalition of Stanik border nobles can assemble and go north to join the Linus family coalition. By then, the army led by Duke Jonathan is in danger of defeat.
Can our Central Route Army open up the situation? It is very critical to the success or failure of this intervention war.
Everyone has seen today's siege, tell us what you think! "
"Your Excellency, the coalition forces in the Gascoigne Province suffered heavy casualties today and performed very bravely, but they are still very far away from conquering the castle. Due to the limitations of the terrain, it is difficult for us to invest too many troops. Such a strong city can only be attacked by surprise. There are two methods with siege.
We don't have much food, so we can't besieged for too long, or we can try a surprise attack. "
Sharp stood up and pointed at the map. During the reorganization of the coalition forces, Richard appointed Sharp as the commander of the coalition forces in Geda Province.
Thirteen years have passed, and Sharp has been promoted from a fifth-level warrior to a seventh-level warrior. He has served as captain of the main army and is a hereditary baron, so he has enough qualifications to hold this position. In order to get Sharp to participate in the war in person, Richard specifically talked to him. The four hundred soldiers brought by Baron Sharp were also carefully selected elite soldiers. Many of them followed him for twenty years.
"Judging from today's battle situation, the defenders are not weak, and the officers are also experienced. Commander Sharp, please give us your views in detail. We cannot let the soldiers continue to take risks."
The speaker is the commander of the coalition forces in Gascoigne Province, Kalani. He is the younger brother of Baron Burnham and a fifth-level knight. This expedition brought 300 elite soldiers, many of whom were Earls. The backbone of the Nam family.
The reason why Baron Burnham sent elite soldiers to join the battle was that he had no other choice. His younger brother Kalani's prestige is too high and has seriously threatened his status. If the external threat hadn't been too great, the brothers would have fallen out long ago.
When organizing the intervention army this time, Baron Burnham consulted with Kalani and decided to send elite soldiers from the territory for him to command. If Kalani makes military exploits and gets a knighthood, everyone will be happy. If Kalani fails to be knighted, they will also leave. Territory, join the Mad Lion Legion.
Compared with Gedda Province, the situation in Gascoigne Province has been very bad in recent years.
Viscount Anthony, the two major nobles in the province, took the lead in launching a rebellion, and Viscount Cisse was also involved. King Roger punished him and demoted him, and his strength plummeted.
The nobles in the province lost two pillars and five thousand soldiers. Facing the orc invasion, it became very difficult to defend.
Several wars did not go well. Many noble territories were captured by the orcs, and the losses were very heavy and miserable.
Among the coalition of nobles from the three provinces, the coalition of nobles from Gascoigne Province only has 3,000 soldiers, and the quality of the soldiers is the lowest. Kalani's men are already the highest quality among the coalition. Although Kalani did not have a title, he was appointed by Richard as the commander of the provincial coalition forces.
"Your Excellency, how many members of the Harland Territory Mage Association are participating in this war? My plan requires the participation of magicians to have a chance of winning."
Faced with Kalani's question, Sharp did not answer directly, but instead turned his eyes to Richard.
The people in the military tent were all senior officers of the three-province coalition army, and it was almost impossible for there to be a traitor.
Besides, Sharp's question was not confidential, so Richard immediately replied: "There are 67 people in the Harland Territory Mage Association, all in the camp, including my wife Sofia. There are also 16 formal magicians in the Mage Corps. But there are 29 magic apprentices who know fewer spells and can only undertake treatment tasks. 17 mage apprentices participated in today's treatment tasks, and most of their magic power has been consumed."
"If we launch a surprise attack at dawn tonight, how many mages can be mobilized to participate in the battle?"
"We can mobilize 20 mages to participate in the battle, basically all formal magicians, a few Several of them are also high-level magic apprentices. "
After listening to Richard's answer, Sharp thought for a moment and said: "Enough, my plan is to select 2,000 elite soldiers, divided into three echelons, and launch a surprise attack at dawn tonight. The mage group will follow the first echelon. The first echelon will carry earth bags and pour the soil under the city wall. Then the magician will use magic to create a stone staircase for the first echelon. As long as the stone staircase can be successfully made, we will have a chance of winning this battle. "
After listening to Sharp's plan, Richard thought for a moment and felt that if it was refined, there should be a good chance of winning.
"What do you think?"
Kalani said: "You can give it a try. The casualties of a strong attack are too great, so we can only use a surprise attack. "
Seeing that no one else objected, Richard weighed the pros and cons and quickly made up his mind to launch a surprise attack at dawn tonight.
Richard selected 1,800 elite soldiers from the three provinces' coalition forces, and then selected 200 archers, 20 magicians from the Harland Territory, and 120 Warcraft cavalry to participate in the surprise attack.
Before setting off, Richard made a brief pre-war mobilization.
"When we set out, Duke Jonathan promised a big reward. If the intervention war is victorious, the territories of the sixteen barons and three viscounts on the border will be granted to the meritorious officials.
This area is fertile and 300 kilometers away from the northern border of Stannik, so it will not face orc invasion. After the intervention war is victorious, it will be a first-class fertile territory.
You are either the second son of a noble or a member of a branch. If you can fight bravely and make military achievements, I will report it to Duke Jonathan truthfully. Gentlemen, whether you can change your fate and become a respected hereditary noble depends on your battle today?"
After the mobilization was completed, Richard immediately led the team to set off. At 3:30 in the morning, the first echelon was lurking 150 meters outside the city wall.
The defenders of Burson Castle have been in battle for a long time and have rich experience in defending the city. Preparations were made in advance for the enemy's surprise attack. Not only were soldiers arranged to take turns on the city wall, but also sentries and dark sentries were arranged. There were even roving sentries patrolling constantly. Even in the second half of the night, the enemy did not slack off.
Through the dim light of the fire, Richard secretly counted that there were more than 400 soldiers on duty on the top of the city. The soldiers on duty were very alert and did not fall asleep until almost 4 o'clock in the morning.
Seeing that the enemy did not reveal any flaws, they continued to approach the city wall. The danger of exposure was very great, and it was easy to be attacked by the enemy. Richard thought for a while and decided to let the archers of Harland Territory suppress the defenders, and Baron Sharp led the first echelon to launch a surprise attack.
With a little firelight, 200 archers of Harland Territory pulled the bowstrings and shot the first round of feather arrows at the top of the city.
These 200 archers were carefully selected, and the archery level of many people had been improved to the third level.
The third-level archery was almost accurate. 200 feather arrows shot on the top of the city, and each arrow was aimed at the vital point, instantly causing serious casualties to the defenders.
This round of feather arrows directly killed more than 20 armored soldiers and injured more than 30 armored soldiers.
If it were daytime, to cause such damage to the enemy, at least more than 300 soldiers would be consumed to achieve this.
It was dark now, after all, and the sentinels on the watchtowers could not see far. With the cover of the night, the archers could approach the city wall. The torches lit on the city wall exposed the defenders to the archers' sight, as if shooting at a target, causing a large number of casualties to the enemy.
"Enemy attack, quickly extinguish the torches, and let everyone be careful of feather arrows."
In the dark night, the grassroots officers guarding the city reacted quickly, immediately commanded the soldiers to blow the horn to call for reinforcements, then extinguished the torches and hid their bodies behind the bunkers.
After the archers shot the feather arrows, the soldiers of the first echelon immediately raised their shields, protected the magicians in the middle, and quickly rushed to the foot of the city wall.
The grenadiers stretched out their bodies, waved their arms and threw alchemical bombs. In an instant, hundreds of alchemical bombs exploded on the top of the city, and shrapnel flew on the top of the city, killing and injuring more than a hundred soldiers.
After being attacked by archers and grenadiers, the defenders on the city wall suffered heavy casualties and lost their organization in an instant, becoming extremely chaotic.
Richard followed the first echelon to fight.
When the first echelon arrived at the foot of the city wall, Richard immediately used the flying technique to fly to the top of the Burson city wall under the cover of night, then opened the Starlight Bottle and poured the soil that had been pre-loaded in the Starlight Bottle under the city wall.
With the powerful magic equipment of the Starlight Bottle, there was no need for the first echelon soldiers to carry earth bags and create earth hills.
The Starlight Bottle has a large space, with a volume of 450 cubic meters. It is enough to create a soil slope that is 15 meters high, 15 meters long, and 2 meters wide.
This sudden scene stunned the defenders. Several officers suppressed their panic and immediately commanded the soldiers to aim their arrows at Richard, trying to solve the problem.
When the arrows came, Richard immediately released the second-ring magic defense arrows. An energy vortex suddenly appeared beside him, stirring up the arrows.
Using gravity, 450 cubic meters of soil were poured under the city wall, and a slope of soil was immediately formed.
Seeing that the defenders were about to launch a second round of arrows, he would be surrounded by the defenders at any time. After dumping the soil, Richard immediately released the fourth-ring magic to fly in the air and landed from the top of Burson City.
When Richard landed on the top of the city, the first echelon soldiers raised their shields to protect the commander in the middle.
The magicians who followed the first echelon to fight released spells to help the soldiers fight.
Sofia quickly released a powerful spell to turn mud into stone. She almost invested all her mental power and basically exhausted her magic power.
Sophia wore a star necklace. Although her mental power was not as good as Richard's, it was more than 40 points. With so much magic power invested, the power of the spell of turning mud into stone was like a legendary spell.
As soon as this powerful magic was released, a large amount of mud suddenly turned into hard stone. This slope passage under the city wall was like an indestructible stone ladder on the top of the city.
After Sophia's magic power was exhausted, Richard immediately arranged four soldiers from the Harland Territory to send her back to the rear camp.
The stone slope appeared out of thin air, and the soldiers of the first echelon reacted quickly. Baron Sharp took the lead and led several professionals to climb the stone slope to fight on the city.
Under the leadership of Baron Sharp, more than a dozen soldiers climbed up the city in the blink of an eye and occupied a foothold.
With the help of magic, the coalition forces of the three provinces recovered a little geographical disadvantage. Relying on the stone slope, soldiers continued to climb up the city, and fierce hand-to-hand combat broke out on the top of the city.
In order to defend their homeland, the defenders of Burson were brave and fought hard, trying their best to stop the enemy.
However, the defenders were not as strong as the elite soldiers of the first echelon, and soon they were at a disadvantage. More and more soldiers climbed up the city wall relying on the stone slope, and the rotating defenders were under increasing pressure, and were on the verge of collapse.