“…… Otto, what is our casualty situation? After all the front-line soldiers had withdrawn to the camp, Art hurriedly asked Odo, who had come to report the battle damage.

"My lord, we have suffered a total of fifty-seven casualties in this battle, and more than half of them are elite soldiers who rushed to the front." Otto's face was solemn, and he twisted his head to the side.

Since the formation of the Welsh Corps, it has never suffered such a big loss.

The soldiers responsible for breaking through the city gate this time are the elite of the Wells Legion, who have experienced many large and small battles, and are a siege weapon in the hands of Art. Unexpectedly, dozens of elite soldiers were lost at the beginning of the siege, and the difficulty of the siege behind can be imagined.

"We are still attacking while the enemy is unprepared, and if it is really a hard attack, I am afraid that there will be more casualties. According to the Marquis's plan, the main purpose of our siege was to find out the enemy's defensive strength and prepare for a large-scale attack in the later stage. Judging from the current casualty situation, we must be mentally prepared. Art spoke in a low tone, pacing back and forth in the tent.

"My lord, what do you mean~"

"I mean, we're probably going to pay a huge price to take the city of Thorne this time." Before Otto could finish speaking, Art explained.

"Master, the Marquis has sent someone to invite you to the military meeting of the Liberation Army camp." As soon as Art's words fell, Ron opened the curtain and came in to report to Art.

"I see, you go down first."

"Yes, sir."

As soon as Ron walked out of the camp, Art turned to Odo and said, "Odo, as soon as I leave, you and the sergeant major will prepare for the next major attack on the city of Thorne. ”

"Yes, sir." Odo complied, and then walked quickly out of the command camp.

"Bernard, you're not so lucky this time!" After Otto went out, there was a hint of murder in Art's eyes.

…………

The Liberation Army commanded the tent, and when the Yate Express arrived, the senior officers under Flender were already waiting in the tent, all of them looking serious, without the sharpness they had before the siege.

"The Marquis has arrived!" As soon as the guard outside the tent spoke, Flender had already lifted the curtain and walked inside.

"Sit down!" Before everyone could pay their respects, Flender spoke.

"You have all seen the tentative assault this morning, and although we have the upper hand, we are still unable to break through the city of Thorne from the front, and we have suffered heavy casualties." After everyone was seated, Flender gave a brief summary of the siege in the morning.

"Art, how's your situation there?" Flender turned to look at Art.

"Back to the Marquis, more than fifty of my men were killed and wounded. Originally, they had approached the city wall before the enemy could fully react, but with the arrival of their reinforcements, the besieging soldiers couldn't withstand it at all~" Art bowed his head and remained silent.

Seeing that the morale of the people present was frustrated and their mood was low, Flender said: "Everyone, this attack is just to test the strength and defense of the defenders of Thorne City, I didn't expect you to capture Thorne City in one fell swoop at the beginning. As long as there is war, there will be casualties, and you don't have to blame yourself too much. ”

Seeing that there was no dissatisfaction or reproach in Flender's tone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and slowly raised their heads.

"The battle in the morning has taught us a lesson, and it is not easy to storm the city of Thorne. At present, the only breakthrough is the northeast gate. Tonight, once the gates of the city should be opened, our men must quickly occupy it and hold their ground. As soon as they gave the signal, the supporting troops rushed in and took the city of Thorne together with the siege troops outside the city! Flender suddenly got up and slammed his fist on the table.

"Swear allegiance to the Marquis!"

At the same time, they all stood up and answered the order.

"When you return, order the soldiers to rest and prepare a good meal for them. By sunset, the east and south gates simultaneously attacked the defenders on the city walls, disrupting the enemy's disposition. After dark, the 200 soldiers responsible for capturing the northeast gate immediately went to the designated position to stand by, and as soon as the city gate opened, they immediately rushed in. Tonight, you must take the city of Thorne for me and capture that bastard of Bernard alive! ”

"Yes!"

…………

"How's it going, are you all ready?"

"Sir, don't worry. As soon as the time comes, the people we have planted there will immediately take action to get rid of the guys at the gate and let the people from outside the city come in. ”

"Okay, you go and get ready right away. At sunset, they will again attack the city in a big way. When the time comes, act at the right time, be sure to be clean and neat, and your benefits are indispensable afterwards. ”

"Yes, sir."

"Remember, this matter must be kept secret, otherwise you and my heads won't be able to wait for the city to break."

"Don't worry."

In a luxurious mansion next to Center Street on the west side of the city, Flender was in the city of the city of Thorne and was asking his men about the night cooperation with the recovery army outside the city to break the city.

According to Flender's instructions, the inner gate should be opened to let the two hundred elite soldiers outside the city enter the city, and cooperate with the men and horses of the Guangfu army to stabilize their positions, and after the supporting brigade entered, they immediately launched an attack on the defenders of the east and south gates, and cooperated with the army outside the city to take the city of Thorn in one fell swoop. This is the key to Flender's takeover of Thorne this time, and once he wins, the battle for the successor will be over.

…………

Woo......

Woo......

At sunset, the south gate of the city of Saône. As the horn of the attack sounded, the second siege began. The well-fed and well-fed siege soldiers were demoralized after being rested.

"Trebuchet ready!"

……

"Launch!"

With an order, the trebuchet position, located not far in front of the front command tent of the Wells Corps, threw huge stones at the walls of the southern gate. I saw the stone rushing towards the city wall like a bird~

"Get down!"

When the officer in charge of guarding the city on the city wall saw the black dots in the distance flying towards the city wall, he hurriedly shouted loudly, and then squatted on the ground with his head on the city wall beside him.

I saw that the first wave of flying stones smashed into the city wall, leaving only a small hole. A few soldiers who did not react were cut in the face by the scattered rubble after being smashed by the rock, and rolled on the ground with their heads covered.

"Keep loading!"

……

"Launch!"

Immediately afterward, waves of dense bullets rained down on the city wall. I saw the people on the city wall hiding in all directions, panicking. After the collision between the stone and the city wall, there were bursts of dust, and I saw the soldiers lying on the ground unable to open their eyes, their bodies curled up against the corner of the wall, and they couldn't stop shaking. A few of the unlucky ghosts who were beaten by the stone mongrels had already been decapitated and rotten.

"Attack!"

Seeing that the enemy defending the city was temporarily suppressed by the stone, Art, who was riding on horseback, drew his broadsword at his waist and pointed forward, and immediately ordered an attack.

"Roar~"

"Roar~"

Immediately, the forward troops responsible for breaking the city pushed the battering ram and carried the long ladder, and approached under the city wall under the cover of the heavy infantry shields.

"Archer prepare!"

The defending officer, who had just risen from the ground, saw that the rebels were already coming towards this side, and immediately organized archers to defend it.

"Two hundred steps~"

……

"One hundred steps~"

……

"Put!"

I saw a dense number of arrows flying towards the siege troops under the city, and the shield-wielding soldiers who reacted quickly immediately closed their shields, and the sound of arrows nailing to the shields rattled.

"Keep going!" Weez, who was in charge of commanding the siege troops, shouted orders in the middle of the ranks. As soon as the besieging troops approached the city walls, the stones and rolling logs on their heads kept falling, and the shields rattled.

"Quick, smash them!"

The officers defending the city roared loudly when they saw the rebels approaching again. Command the soldiers defending the city to fight against the enemy.

"Quick, put up the ladder right now." Wezzy, shield-wielding, gave the order as he dodged the falling rocks.

"One-two~"

"One-two~"

Under the city wall, five or six soldiers worked together to slowly lean the long ladder towards the city wall.

"Quick, those bastards are coming up and smashing them!" The officer in charge of the northern wall shouted and threw the stone at the soldiers on the long ladder. I saw that the guy who was climbing up flashed flexibly, avoided the flying stones, and rushed up with a shield~

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

On the other side, the soldiers in charge of the battering ram smashed together under the cover of their shields towards the city gate. The gates creaked under the massive impact, and from time to time a few pieces of wood shards fell down. The soldiers on the inside were desperately clinging to the log on top of the door, supporting the humming oak door.

The defenders on the city wall saw that the enemy was hitting the city gate, and they raised the stone and threw it down, and the huge impact caused the shield in the hand of one of the soldiers to fall off, and the ensuing arrows went into his thigh~

"Archer, cover!" Weez, who was directing the siege, immediately ordered the archers, who were following behind the hoplites, to suppress the defenders on the walls. I saw more than a hundred arrows flying towards the city wall, and immediately shot down a few guys who were lifting stones.

Taking advantage of the gap when the enemy was suppressed, Burry, who was under the city wall, immediately rushed forward with his shield when he saw this. As he approached the top of the wall, he saw a soldier with a short spear stabbing at him. Bury blocked with the shield in his left hand and slashed off the soldier's arm with the sword in his hand. I saw that guy fall to the ground in an instant, holding a bleeding arm and rolling all over the ground. Just as Burry was about to rush forward, one of the defending officers raised his sword and slashed at Burry's head, causing Burry to fall backwards in fright. When Burry came back to his senses and stabbed the long sword at the guy, an arrow flying from behind him pierced the guy's throat~

"Bury, be careful!"

When Bury looked down, he saw Hans draw his bow and shoot at another soldier again~

…………

At the east gate of Thorne City, the recovery army and the defending army have entered a white-hot state at this time. The Liberation Army, which was attacking the city on a large scale, kept rushing towards the city walls, not fearing the defenders on the city walls at all.

I saw that on the long stairs on the east and west sides of the city gate, seven or eight soldiers were already less than three feet away from the city wall. The defenders on the city wall raised the stone and threw it downward, and when the top soldier was smashed down, the soldiers behind rushed upward.

Seeing that the rebel offensive was so fierce, at one point several soldiers defending the city tried to escape, but were beheaded by the officers defending the city. Seeing this, the other soldiers no longer dared to think of fleeing, so they had to desperately resist the rebels who kept rushing up.

Under the east gate, the siege troops, who had just been forced back by the fire oil poured down by the defenders, pushed the battering ram and slammed into the gate again under the cover of archers. More than a dozen corpses that were still smoking around emitted a disgusting scorching smell~

Slowly, the night swallowed everything around, only the torches were sparsely lit on and under the walls of Thorne, and the long ladders and shields burning on the ground burst out from time to time, and the air was filled with the smell of smoke and blood~ I saw that the ground was full of corpses, including soldiers of the Liberation Army and the Welsh Legion, as well as soldiers who rolled down from the city walls. The corpses were stained with blood, stumps and severed arms were scattered all over the ground, and from time to time daring rats licked and devoured the slowly coagulated blood......

Although it was already dark, the attackers and defenders did not have the slightest intention of stopping, but became more and more intense.

After an afternoon of fighting, soldiers from the Liberation Army and the Wells Army on both sides of the city wall have rushed up, fighting desperately with the red-eyed defenders, and the corpses on the city wall are piled up......

…………

When the killing sound in the east city shook the sky, the north city was peaceful.

Not far from the northeast gate of the city of Thorne, an officer followed by several servants pushing carts all the way to the city gate.

"Stop!"

Seeing a few sneaky people walking towards the city gate not far away, the officer in charge of guarding the city shouted to a few people.

Seeing that the people who came did not listen to the advice at all, the officer defending the city and the seven or eight soldiers behind him had already drawn the sword from their waists.

"Don't be nervous, brother." With the help of the light of the torches, the officers defending the city gradually saw the appearance of the people coming.

"It turned out to be Knight Henry." The officer defending the city put his sword back into its scabbard as he walked towards the knight. "Knight Henry, what are you doing here so late?"

"Look at what you said, the guys are working so hard to defend the city here, and my Viscount specially sent me to comfort everyone. Bring up the food and drinks. ”

"Thank you, Lord Viscount, those of us who have no one to take care of have also enjoyed it with Lord Viscount's soldiers~" As he spoke, the officer guarding the city glanced behind him, and half of the soldiers on the city wall were the Viscount's people.

"Look at what you said, everyone is working for the Earl, what else do you and me. In this way, you eat first, and I will make other arrangements for the people under my Viscount's command later. What do you think? ”

"W-how embarrassing is this."

"You're welcome, come on, I've got some good wine here."

"Okay, it's rare that Lord Viscount is so hearted, then we're welcome. Come and have some drinks, brothers. ”

Then a crowd gathered around them, and ate the roast chicken and roast pork in the wooden box, unprepared for the impending danger.

"You guys, go to the city wall and watch a little, and it won't be your turn until these adults have finished eating." The knight winked at the soldiers on the ramparts.

"You guys, look at the gates and keep an eye out of the city." With that, a few soldiers went to the city gate.

"Ah, good wine!" The officer guarding the city wiped the residual juice from the corner of his mouth and said with satisfaction. The other soldiers also tore the delicious roast chicken in their hands and tossed the short swords in their hands aside.

Seeing that these guys in front of him were defenseless, the knight glanced at the thirty or so soldiers with short swords behind the group of soldiers who were eating and drinking, and slowly put his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"Hey, I said~" As soon as the officer guarding the city looked up, he saw that the knight's hand had been placed on his waist, and his face suddenly darkened. "You~"

As soon as the officer defending the city spoke, the knight had already pulled out the long sword at his waist and cut off the neck of the officer guarding the city, and the blood splashed on the leg of the chicken that the other soldier was holding and gnawing, and the soldier sat on the ground in fright~

"Kill!"

As soon as the knight gave the order, the group of soldiers defending the city who had just reacted were slashed by the soldiers who drew their short swords behind them, and those guys were so frightened that they threw away the things in their hands and ran to get the short swords around them~

"Open the gates!"

As the logs on the gate were removed one by one, the northeast gate slowly opened.

"Quick, take the torch out of the door and spin it three times!"

Five hundred steps away from the northeast gate, the two hundred elite soldiers who had been lurking here for a long time saw the torches outside the northeast gate, and immediately roared and rushed towards the city gate~

As an arrow flying towards the east burst out of the air after the sparks, a team of five hundred people not far from the east gate of Thorne City quickly headed towards the northeast gate~