dognovel Chapter 283 Night Climbing
Chapter 283 Night Climbing
boom!
The roar of hundreds of artillery pieces resounded on the northern side of the border mountains. The light of countless torches outside the pass broke through the darkness and illuminated the land outside the pass.
The shells whizzed and hit the walls of the pass, and the Lana soldiers stationed there were buried in the ruins in an instant. Some of the outer forts were also targeted by artillery. After several rounds of bombardment, only one in ten outer forts remained, and the Lana soldiers could only tremble in the ruins.
"Pass the order, act according to the plan, and make sure to capture all the strongholds in the border mountains tonight."
John, who was riding on a horse, saw the pass collapse through a telescope and immediately issued an order to the entire army to fight.
In John's plan, he would first have the assassins secretly detonate the gunpowder warehouses in the fortresses on both sides of the central valley, then have the soldiers occupy these fortresses to protect the route for transporting troops to Lana, and finally attack on both sides to occupy the strongholds in the east and west.
Although John's White Wolf Knights had to attack the enemy with heavy infantry due to the terrain, John believed that as long as the enemy's artillery was destroyed, ordinary bows, crossbows and swords would not pose a threat to the White Wolf Knights.
"Knights! Even though we are cavalry, we are faster than infantry when we dismount! Now the Knights will form a hundred-man team and charge forward to eliminate all the strongholds in the valley!"
Following the centurions' orders, the knights dismounted and gathered, then entered through the pass in groups under the leadership of the centurions, rushing towards the strongholds they needed to occupy.
Berenguer was also awakened by the bombardment. His years of military experience immediately made him realize that the Mitlan opposite had launched a night attack. He didn't even wear armor, but just a sweater and walked out of the fortress.
"Sir, it's not good!"
The corps commander stationed here immediately reported:
"Mitlan attacked the outer passes and fortresses. It is estimated that the vanguard of Mitlan has entered the pass and is heading towards the various fortresses."
"What!" Berenguer was furious. He didn't expect that the Midlanders would have the courage to attack his territory at night and even break in.
"Why don't you fire your artillery to meet the attack?"
"The Mitlanders' artillery has a longer range than ours, and with Mitland's spies blowing up the gunpowder warehouses in various fortresses, the defenders have no way of counterattacking with artillery."
When Berenguer heard that there was a spy, he immediately grabbed the head of the corps and asked:
"Didn't I tell you to step up patrols? How could such an important place as the gunpowder warehouse be attacked?"
The commander was so frightened by Berenguer's anger that he didn't know what to say. He could only stammer:
"This, this...I really don't know."
"Where is the Mitlan army now!"
"Just now, a soldier from the fortress near the valley asked for help. I guess he is still near the valley."
After thinking about it, Berenguer realized the opponent's intention. It seemed that they were going to attack from the center to both sides.
"Pass on my order. Have the troops on the east and west sides reinforce the center. We must surround the main force of the enemy!"
At this time, the valley was filled with the sound of artillery fire, but most of it was John's army attacking Lana's army unilaterally. Because the gunpowder warehouse in the fortress was destroyed, the defenders in the fortress had no shells to use, and the explosion also caused several holes in the city wall.
As the gate was blasted open by the long-barreled cannon, exposing the soldiers inside, the organ cannon immediately opened fire. The dense artillery shells drove the newly organized Lana army into all directions, leaving only a large pool of blood and the bodies of various soldiers pierced by the shells.
"Knights, charge!"
As heavy infantry, the White Wolf Knights rushed in first with shields on their heads. Under the sporadic arrow attacks from the opposite side, the White Wolf Knights placed their loaded muskets on their shields, aimed at the Lana soldiers and opened fire. As the smoke dissipated, the soldiers on the opposite side fell one after another. The remaining Lana soldiers immediately chose to save their lives between fighting and saving their lives. At the White Wolf Knights' persuasion to surrender, they quickly threw their weapons away and ran out of the fortress.
"Report, a large number of enemy troops have been spotted on the east and west sides heading towards the central valley."
After receiving the scout's report, John issued a second order:
"Order all troops except the White Wolf Knights to defend the Valley Fortress. The White Wolf Knights will continue to ambush in units of 100 men and wait for the enemy to attack the fortress and then attack from the rear."
Just after John gave the order, a Black Watch cavalryman came from the north. The cavalryman quickly stopped beside John and reported:
"Sir, the Black Watch mercenaries will arrive in ten minutes. Please give them the next mission."
"Inform all the captains and artillery units not to join the battle immediately after arriving here. I will lead the team to attack the enemy's headquarters directly."
At this time, the battle in the valley had entered a white-hot stage. Tens of thousands of Lana soldiers continued to attack the castle occupied by John's army. At this time, the organ cannon and Greek fire immediately came into play. Under the attack of gunpowder and artillery shells, Lana soldiers fell in large numbers on the road of attack.
The White Wolf Knights will take this opportunity to cut off the Lana people's retreat. For a while, screams and explosions continued to echo in the valley.
Berenguer in the headquarters also heard the artillery fire getting closer and closer. Feeling uneasy, he immediately sent people to investigate. However, the result was that the front-line troops had failed in the battle and could not take back the fortress from the Midlanders.
Just when he was about to lead his troops to fight in person, the corps commander brought bad news: an army wearing black armor was marching towards here, and its size was so large that it could not be determined.
When Berenguer heard about the black armor, he immediately thought of the Yoda army. The Yoda cavalry in black armor had shocked him. However, he soon realized that this army should be John's Black Watch mercenary group.
"Order the soldiers to immediately go up to the city walls and prepare to meet the enemy. Get the artillery ready and fire as soon as the enemy enters the range."
At this time, Berenguer had lost confidence in the siege capabilities of Lana's army. In the absence of artillery, Lana's army performed just as poorly as the Midland regular army before. At this point, they could only hold on and wait until the enemy was repelled before joining up with other armies.
John and his troops quickly ambushed in the forest outside the fortress where Berenguer was located. With the cover of the woods here, the accuracy of the artillery shells of the opposing Lana people would be greatly reduced.
As the long-barreled cannon continued to bombard, the gate of the opposite fortress was not pierced as before, but only a few dents were added to the gate.
"Mortar!"
Since they couldn't cause damage to the enemy's walls and gates, they could just attack the people inside the fortress. Soon, the artillerymen pushed more than a dozen mortars forward and conducted the first round of test firing after selecting the angle.
The Lana soldiers on the city wall saw that there was no movement from the opposite side and began to relax. Then, under the sound of artillery fire, they discovered that the shells from the opposite side were rushing into the sky at a different angle from before, and then fell from top to bottom into the soldiers on the city wall.
Suddenly, the Lana soldiers on the city wall were in chaos, and one after another began to flee down the city wall under the continuous attack of mortars. Even though the supervision team killed several deserters, they could not stop the escape of a large number of soldiers.
To make matters worse, a shell hit the artilleryman on the city wall, and his torch happened to fall on the gunpowder next to it. In an instant, the violent explosion killed or injured the surrounding soldiers, and more Rana soldiers began to flee to the rear.
"Sir, some deserters have opened the back door of the fortress! If we don't pay attention, we will be discovered by the Midlanders soon!"
"If it really doesn't work, sir, let's retreat!"
Seeing the hopeless situation, even Berenguer himself had to admit his failure and gave the order:
"Retreat to the south of the mountains and regroup our troops!"
John, who was outside the city, also received the news. He immediately ordered some soldiers to occupy the fortress walls with ladders, while others to hunt down the deserters and capture the enemy commander alive.
A few hours later, Berenguer hid in a crevice of rocks, listening to sporadic artillery fire in the distance, and his heart became extremely haggard.
Berenguer left the fortress under the protection of dozens of his confidants, thinking that he would be safe. However, the Midlan people on the opposite side pursued him relentlessly, and his confidants were killed by the Midlan people who came over while they were covering his retreat and escorting him again and again. During a siege, he was separated from his confidants and unknowingly came to a cliff alone.
Perhaps there is always a way out. He found a gap on the top of the cliff that was just big enough for someone to hide, and he quickly climbed up before the pursuers arrived.
At this time, a team of Black Watch mercenaries and several hounds chased here.
"It's nearby, everyone hurry up and search."
Hearing the voices outside and the howling of hounds, Berenguer couldn't help but feel his heart in his throat.
"No, the captain has looked everywhere."
After hearing the team members' answers, the leading captain stroked the hound and said:
"That shouldn't be the case. Judging from the hound's appearance, this person was nearby. How could he disappear?"
Thinking of this, the captain couldn't help but look towards the mountains, only to find that a shoe was stuck in a crack among the rocks.
"Could it be that this person is up there?" The captain thought of this and immediately shouted upwards:
"Don't hide, I see you. Put down your weapons and get out of there, or we'll release the dogs on you!"
After shouting several times, Berenguer slid down from the top under the gaze of the mercenaries, and was then escorted by the soldiers to where John was.