dognovel Chapter 620: Familiar with the Road
Chapter 620: Familiar with the Road
"boom!"
A huge stone brick slipped from the carriage and hit the muddy ground with a thud, sending up a cloud of choking dust.
The soldier in charge of transportation hurriedly took two steps back, covering his mouth and nose and coughing, and the gray dust covered his face.
"Ahem...what do you want this for?"
He shouted at the top of his voice and waved his arms wildly to disperse the smoke and dust in front of him, but he saw Griffith grabbed a few silver coins from his purse and put them in his palm with a clink.
"Thank you very much. We will take care of the rest."
Griffith had a polite smile on his face. The soldier weighed the silver coins in his palm, which was enough for him to exchange for half a month's worth of beer and a full meal. He grinned and spat on the ground.
"Then I'm leaving!"
The sound of the carriage wheels rolling over the gravel gradually faded away. Jiedu immediately squatted down, took out a brass ruler from his bag, and squatted beside the stone bricks to measure.
"One meter long, half a meter wide, and eighty centimeters high."
He counted and scratched marks on the side of the stone brick with a charcoal pencil, causing Gus next to him to scratch his head:
"Why are you measuring this? Aren't we going to attack head-on..."
"blasting."
Griffith had crouched beside him without him noticing, his fingertips tracing the cracks on the edge of the stone bricks.
"A barrel of modified explosives is enough to blast a hole through a brick of this size."
He looked up at the broken city wall in the distance. The huge wall, which was pitted by the catapults, was now emitting a cold gray-brown light, like a sleeping beast.
"The wall is about three meters thick, with half a meter of stone bricks on each side and about two meters of rammed earth in the middle."
Gus frowned and snapped his fingers.
"But the general said there are thousands of defenders in the city..."
"correct."
Gorkas pointed to Rickit next to him.
"Even if Rickett was given a sword, he would have to face two people."
"bluff."
Griffith shook his head and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
"The scouts who infiltrated yesterday reported that the Yoda garrison was originally fully staffed at 1,500 men. The general previously stated that half of his 5,000 men had been lost. Given the high casualties of a siege of 5 to 1, coupled with the months-long siege and lack of food and fodder, there are only about 1,000 men left who can actually carry weapons."
"This wall may look intimidating, but in reality, the outer stone bricks are severely weathered, and the inner rammed earth has softened from days of rain. If a breach is blasted at a critical point, the defenders' morale will collapse."
Griffith said this with emotion:
"That is to say, this general has no artillery. If he had, two or three rounds from five cannons would have blasted a breach in the city wall."
"Although we don't have artillery, the explosives Rickett prepared are much more powerful than those available on the market!"
Jie Du on the side praised Rickett.
"If I present this technology to the higher-ups in Midland, I could at least get a position as 'Palace Gunpowder Craftsman'!"
“It’s not that great actually.”
Rickett, who was standing next to him, felt embarrassed after being praised like this and touched the back of his head.
"Let's solve the battle at hand first."
Griffith stood up.
"According to the original plan, we will start tonight."
The night is like ink, so thick that it cannot be dissolved.
Several teams of dark shadows shuttled like ghosts between the piles of corpses and wooden fences outside the city.
The rotting corpses gave off a sour odor, mixed with the scent of resin from the arrow stakes, which made people's noses itchy.
Jie Du followed in front of the team with his back bent, a dagger at his waist and a crossbow on his back, and every step he took was in the deepest shadows.
"arrive."
After approaching the moat, Jiedu raised his hand to signal, and everyone quickly hid at the base of the city wall that was collapsed by the catapult.
The moat ten feet away was glowing with a faint green light, and the water reflected the sporadic light of torches. Those were the night guards on the city wall patrolling.
"Build a ladder!"
Jiedu growled.
Two mercenaries immediately rushed forward carrying an oil-soaked wooden ladder and leaned it diagonally toward the opposite bank. The top of the ladder happened to be stuck behind a broken wooden stake, forming a natural shelter.
Jie Du held the rope tightly and climbed up the ladder like a gecko. His movements were extremely light, and every time his toes tapped on the rungs, there was almost no sound. Only the subtle sound of his clothes rubbing against the air drifted away in the night wind.
When he crossed over to the other side of the moat, the mercenaries behind him immediately followed him.
The sound of water in the moat could be faintly heard overhead, mixed with the coughs of the night watchmen and the squeaking of boots on wooden boards. Fortunately, the soldiers were leaning lazily against the arrow tower and yawning, and no one noticed the unusual movement on the other side of the river.
Ten minutes later, the first group of figures had quietly approached the section of the city wall that was dented by the catapult.
Jie Du squatted at the front, and the click of the pocket watch cover popping open was particularly clear in the silence.
"We still have half an hour until the attack."
He lowered his voice and scanned the faces of each team member.
"Dig the pit at the designated location, bury the explosive barrel half a meter deep, and leave enough for ten meters of fuse."
Everyone dispersed immediately, and Jie Du and three other mercenaries picked up short pickaxes and dug shallow pits in the rammed earth layer.
The rammed earth was unexpectedly soft, and the fragments splashed by the pickaxe when it fell were mixed with rotten grass roots. It seemed that the defenders really did not have the energy to repair this gap that was the focus of the trebuchet.
Jie Du waved towards a place not far away.
"Bring the powder barrel here!"
Several mercenaries took a clay pot wrapped with hemp rope, carefully placed the pot into the bottom of the pit, and covered it with broken soil.
"Everyone retreat"
After everything was done, Jie Du looked at his pocket watch and saw that the minute hand was two small spaces away from twelve.
After everyone quickly retreated to a shelter ten meters away, Jie Du squatted on the ground, listening to his own violent heartbeat, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the hilt of the sword.
The teasing voice of the night watchman came from a distance:
"Hey, old Jack, is it your turn to guard the west gate again tonight?"
"Get lost! I'm going to apply to be transferred to the kitchen tomorrow!"
Time passed second by second. When the minute hand finally pointed to twelve, Jie Du immediately gave the order:
"ignition!"
Sparks immediately followed the fuse to the powder barrel under the city wall.
"boom!!!"
A deafening explosion tore through the night sky, and the rubble and dust kicked up by the shock wave poured down like a rainstorm. The entire section of the city wall let out a terrible groan, and the stone bricks and rammed earth layers collapsed like biscuits crushed by an invisible giant hand.
Red flames rose from the gap, illuminating half of the night sky and reflecting the terrified faces of the defenders on the city wall. Some screamed and retreated, some scrambled to grab weapons, and more people stood there, as if they were struck by lightning and became stupid.
"Everyone, rush into the city, clear out the nearby defenders, and cover Guts and the others as they climb the city wall!"
Jiedu jumped up, drew his sword and roared.
The mercenaries of the Eagle Group rushed towards the gap like arrows from a bow. Guts rushed to the front wielding a two-handed sword, and the blade split the air with a sharp whistling sound.
The Yoda soldier who was charging towards him was still holding a shield, but he shattered the shield's edge with his sword and stabbed it into the opponent's chest. Blood splattered on his face, burning him so much that he squinted his eyes. He then turned around and slashed off another enemy's arm with his sword.
"Lower the drawbridge! Quick!"
Guts led the stormtroopers straight to the capstan inside the city wall. Looking up, he saw two Yoda guards running down, but they were swept off the city wall by Guts' sword one by one.
He grabbed the capstan handle and shouted:
"Gorkas! Help!"
"coming!"
Gorkas rushed over with several mercenaries, and several of them turned the winch at the same time.
The heavy iron chains rattled, the iron cables of the suspension bridge slowly loosened, and the heavy wooden boards fell down with a thud, hitting the ground with a dull sound.
At the same time, a roar was heard from the city gate, and another team of mercenaries had knocked open the remaining gate bolts.
"Cavalry, charge!"
Griffith's cold voice came from not far outside the city. Under the moonlight, a team of heavy cavalry rushed towards them like a silver torrent.
The leading knight was wearing white armor, and the white horse under him was neighing with its head held high. Griffith's lance was pointed obliquely in the direction of the city gate. The armor shone coldly in the moonlight, like a paladin from a myth.
"It really worked!"
General Midland, who was watching the battle from the top of the city wall, suddenly stood up, forgetting to put down his telescope. He pulled off his hat and threw it to the ground, roaring at the messenger behind him:
"All forces charge! Take the castle!"
A horn suddenly blew, and the infantry phalanxes of the Midlan army surged towards the city gate like a tide. A rain of arrows covered the sky, and the shouts of killing shook the air.
Inside the city, the defense line of Yoda's defenders had been torn open, and panic spread like a plague. They watched helplessly as the silver knight and his cavalry rushed into the city like sharp blades.