Yesterday afternoon and in the middle of the night, the Scottish Janissaries sent out most of them to the villages around Edinburgh to catch the strong men. By daybreak, a total of 2,600 men had been captured in the city to assist the army in defending the city of Edinburgh.

At the same time, about 4,000 middle-aged male residents of the city were also gathered and came to the arsenal to distribute weapons. Of course, before that, they had to seal the gates, lest the oak gates not withstand the enemy's shelling.

When the Fourth Army came to the outside of Edinburgh, the gate of Edinburgh had just completed the internal blockade. After the blockade was completed, the strong men took up their rusty weapons and walked with the regular army to the city wall.

After reaching the city wall, the Praetorian Guards kept loudly instructing the strong men on how to counter the enemy's possible attack. Mainly, how to deal with enemy soldiers who climb the wall. These soldiers even demonstrated the stabbing movements to the strong men themselves.

Looking at the lively city walls, Saqqara was taken aback:

"So many people? Isn't there only 1600 troops? Could it be that the information is wrong? ”

His adjutant looked at it with a telescope for a while, then shook his head and said:

"The information is correct, most of the people in the city are captured strong men. You look at their costumes, it's messy, it's not like a regular army! ”

"Then I'll be relieved......" Saqqara breathed a sigh of relief.

"Legion Commander, from which gate do we launch the main attack?" The adjutant asked.

Saqqara did not speak, but observed with a telescope for a long time, and rode around the city wall for a while, and then said:

"Edinburgh Castle, the royal palace of Edinburgh City, is located on a hill west of the city, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and most of the artillery of Edinburgh City is on that side. Therefore, the West Gate is not the best choice. ”

"The east gate is too far away from the royal palace on the west side of the city, and it will be troublesome after taking it. So, you can only choose from the south gate and the north gate...... Not...... If you attack the north gate, it will be easy for the enemy to retreat from the south gate and enter the southern mountains...... So, let's launch the main attack from the south gate! However, send cavalry to guard outside the west gate to prevent the enemy chieftain and his wife from escaping from the west gate! ”

"Yes, I'll arrange it!" After the adjutant saluted, he immediately went to make arrangements.

Soon, the 20 32-pounder Cullen guns that had come with the ship were also moved outside the south gate, along with a large number of iron ball shells and powder kegs. Subsequently, 20 32-pounder Cullen guns carried out a concentrated bombardment of the south gate of Edinburgh. It's just that Edinburgh is a royal city after all, and the city gate is still quite thick. Even if it is a 32-pounder gun, it will not be effective for several days.

Seeing that the shelling had no effect, Saqqara was not in a hurry. Because, he didn't expect the shelling to be effective. After all, Marin sent the "fierce fire oil" specially used to burn the wooden city gates......

It's just that his current shelling is also paralyzing the enemy army. As for how to use the "fierce fire oil", he decided to wait until midnight to use it. In this way, there will be no accident for the soldiers who carry the fierce fire oil to burn the city gates. If a soldier carrying an oil drum to burn the city gate is accidentally killed by the enemy, another rocket will burn the fire oil itself, and the city gate will not be threatened.

And Sakara only has a barrel of "fierce fire oil" in his hand, so he naturally can't afford to waste it. Therefore, he decided to wait until midnight to send someone to bring the fierce fire oil to the south gate of Edinburgh and light the gate......

Therefore, the siege of the Fourth Army during the day seemed to be thunderous, but in fact, the rain was small, and there was no substantial progress at all.

Moreover, in this era, it was normal for European sieges to last for months, and the defenders of Edinburgh had long been prepared for a protracted war.

As for the posture of storming the South Gate, will the main force of the Scottish defenders gather near the South Gate? Saqqara was not worried. Why? Because the enemy defenders only have 1,600 regular troops, and the rest are strong men with low combat effectiveness. Once the gates were breached, Saqqara did not believe that his Fourth Legion would not be able to defeat them. Moreover, you can also take the opportunity to wipe out the opponent's main force near the south gate. And once the main force of the other side has been eliminated, it is very simple to occupy the whole city of Edinburgh.

In addition to concentrating the main force at the south gate, Saqqara also sent part of his army to the western, eastern, and northern gates to patrol and prevent the enemy from escaping through these three gates. In fact, it was nothing for those ordinary soldiers and civilians to escape, and Saqqara's ultimate goal was nothing more than to capture John. Stuart and Queen Margaret only. Others, it doesn't matter.

In this way, for a whole day, the offensive and defensive battle between the Fourth Army and the defenders of Edinburgh was more like a friendly exercise, and there were not many casualties at all. But what the Scottish defenders did not notice was that the Fourth Corps, in a feint-like attack, quietly filled the trench near the south gate with sandbags......

……

In the middle of the night, both sides were tired and rested. Of course, both armies arranged sergeants on night duty to closely monitor each other and not give the opponent a chance to take advantage of it. Especially in the Fourth Legion, the battalion brought a few German pastors to patrol the night. As soon as there is a disturbance, the awakened Demu will bark in warning. So, for now, the army of the Beihai Kingdom should be the most difficult to be attacked by night. What's more, on the periphery of the camp of the Fourth Army, a secret post was also arranged. If you want to attack at night, there is no way.

And the Scottish defenders in the city were also very nervous to defend the city walls. Because, the army of the North Sea State has a tradition of night raids, and the Scottish army must not be nervous.

But most of the night passed, and nothing happened. And the Scottish defenders, the tense nerves, finally relaxed......

However, before dawn, that is, at about three o'clock, a small group of men and horses quietly walked out of the camp of the Fourth Army and touched the direction of the south gate of Edinburgh......

Most of the people in this group carried a bundle of firewood and grass on their backs, and there was only one person who carried a wooden barrel. And in that barrel, it is naturally filled with the legendary "fierce fire oil", that is, mixed gasoline.

After quietly touching the south gate, the defenders at the head of the city did not notice. After all, it was almost dawn now (it was dawn at 4 o'clock in early August), and the Scottish soldiers on duty at night were also asleep. A few soldiers of the Fourth Legion who touched the gate could even hear the snoring of the Scottish defenders at the head of the city......

By this time, the moon had already set in the sky, and only a little starlight remained. It was with this little starlight that the group touched the south gate of Edinburgh.

The bucket-bearer who led the group waved his hand, and the rest of the people quickly piled the firewood and grass gently on the oak gate. Then, the warrior with the barrel on his back uncorked the barrel and poured the unknown liquid from the barrel into the piles of firewood and grass leaning against the city gate. In the air, there was a foul smell......

Seeing that the arrangement is almost complete, the last step is naturally to ignite.

At this moment, the captain who carried the barrel motioned to the other people, and the others took a small wooden pipe from their waists. Pulling out the woodpipe, there were arquebuses with dim firelight. The woodpipes are open at both ends and do not hold their breath. And the lit arquebus will not be extinguished if it is put in it. And if you put it on a woodwind, you can prevent the spark from being discovered by others in the night.

Of course, the captain with the barrel on his back would not dare to carry this thing on his body. Because, the commander of the corps said that this "fierce fire oil" is too powerful, and those who carry oil drums must put an end to sparks on their bodies. Even before the hurried, the captain kept a certain distance from the other people, just to avoid the sparks of the arquebus on their bodies accidentally touching the oil drums.

After that, the captain of the oil drum took out a slender fuse from his pocket, which connected the firewood and grass piles poured with fierce fire oil on one end of the city gate, and the other end was farther away......

After setting the fuse, the captain of the back bucket whispered:

"Ignition!"

Suddenly, several flaming arquebuses stretched out to the fuse......

"......Shh

Soon, under the south gate of Edinburgh, a fire suddenly burst into the sky. Moreover, the fire was extremely fierce. From the fire to the flames, it only took a few seconds......

Moreover, the flame temperature is extremely high, estimated to be thousands of degrees. Even the Scottish soldiers, who were napping on the city gate, felt a wave of heat rise up......

The Scottish soldiers, who were awakened by the heat, were stunned, but then saw the flames rushing to the ground beneath the city. He poked his head out and was taken aback, and then he cried out:

"It's on fire! The South Gate is on fire! ”

……