The Norman engineers fired three consecutive volleys according to Randy's previous orders, almost plowing the outer city walls of Naples, seeing that the Eastern Roman soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and Narsis himself was almost hit in the head by a flying stone, and several gaps were smashed in the wooden wall, bricks and earth blocks, broken wood blocks and bloody human limbs were mixed together, and it was a mess, and the Eastern Roman soldiers finally forced out a little bit of the heart to fight to the death disappeared a lot in an instant.

"Damn, when did those barbarians have such horrible weapons?"

Surprised, Narsis shouted. Other Eastern Roman soldiers, presumably many of them had the same thoughts in their hearts, but this group of tragedies will not understand why this happened.

After three rounds of volleys, the Norman engineers changed their strategy, and there were more than 40 catapults on each of the three walls, which were divided into four groups, each group of 10, and smashed them with concentrated fire on the places that were seriously injured before aiming at them, or where they did not look too strong by visual inspection, and this smashing was nearly two hours, during which the allied soldiers were bored and sat in place to rest, but the Eastern Roman army in the city gradually calmed down under the emergency dispatch of Narciss.

Seeing that the gap was widening little by little, Narcis also understood the plan of the coalition army, and hurriedly dispatched a large number of reserve troops to form a dense phalanx behind the gap, only waiting for the opponent to attack the city to close the gap.

After two hours of continuous bombardment, a dozen catapults were too worn out to be used, but after this indiscriminate bombardment, the outer walls of Naples were already riddled with holes, and although the ruins were still an obstacle, they only slowed down a little, and the soldiers were able to cross the terrain without the help of any tools.

The catapults stopped bombing and were dismantled into parts by the Norman engineers and transported in trolleys, and the other soldiers in the coalition were amazed and curious to ask a few questions, but they were all prevaricated by the Normans with a language barrier.

Seeing that the road had been opened, the commanders of the coalition forces no longer hesitated and ordered the attack.

However, this gap is still not enough for the Catholic 80,000 coalition army, and the commanders' thinking is similar to that of Randy, believing that the Eastern Roman army is already like a chicken and a dog, and it will collapse as long as it makes a little contact, so it does not send cannon fodder to go to the test, and as soon as it strikes, it will be the most elite army under its command.

Randy sent 2,000 Norman Death Assault Warriors, who had defeated the Varangian mercenaries in the previous battle, and were already the best infantry in the world.

Charlie gathered all the Swiss halberders under his command who wore plate chain composite armor.

Philip II was a little weaker, but he was also a group of heavily armed sergeants wearing heavy chain mail.

Next, the Papal States also dispatched the Swiss Guards wearing plate chain composite armor, as well as the Venetian hoplites, Bolognese hoplites, Genoese elite spear sergeants, etc., although the first batch of attacking troops was only 7,000 people, but it was the essence of the coalition infantry, and the lineup was gorgeous.

"Soldiers, get closer! Close! Lean against your brothers, raise your shield flat, clench your spear, stay in formation, hold on, be sure to hold on. The Eastern Romans were also ruthless, the centurions and the centurions shouted at the top of their voices, and the standard-bearers held aloft the slightly tattered legionary flags, forming dense phalanxes at one gap after another, ready to fight to the death.

On the city wall, a large number of Eastern Roman light infantry and Eastern Roman crossbowmen were concentrated, and the citizens and reserves who were also organized collected the ruins and broken walls, built gentle slopes in the corners of the remaining city walls, and sent a large number of armaments and materials up.

"Shoot the arrows! Invest in stones, javelins! Kill these bastards. Narsis shouted as he saw the coalition soldiers getting closer.

For a time, the head of the city of Naples was full of arrows, but the elite of the coalition army were all wearing strong armor, as long as they didn't happen to hit the neck, cheeks, and weak parts of the armor, it would not be a big problem, and the soldiers from France and Northern Italy also raised the eagle shield in their hands, so that although the attack at the head of the city of Naples was fierce, there were not many coalition soldiers who were really killed.

The allied soldiers quickly climbed over the ruins of the city wall and condescendingly charged towards the Eastern Roman phalanx!

Randy held a monocular and looked into the distance, and could see clearly, and with a single charge, the decisive assault fighters under his command tore several gaps in the opposing phalanx, and the gaps continued to expand, and in the blink of an eye, they had the upper hand.

Under normal circumstances, Randy would naturally feel satisfied with such a development, feeling that his army was strong and he commanded well.

But now it was different, it was a little different from what Randy had imagined, only to see the Death Assault Warriors wielding tomahawks and slashing and slashing, but the Eastern Roman soldiers followed one after another, and soldiers kept coming forward to fill the void and resist with extraordinary tenacity.

"What's going on? What tactics did the other side use to revive morale? Randy was so surprised that he immediately sent heralds to the walls in other directions to inquire, but the answer was the same, the Eastern Roman army was desperately resisting, and the offensive was slow.

"Damn it!"

Randy cursed secretly, although he didn't know what was going on, he knew that if he wanted to break through Napoli, he was afraid that it would take a lot more effort.

The coalition army attacked Naples in batches, and the siege battle lasted for a whole day, but the Eastern Roman soldiers defending the city were fighting to the death like an impregnable wall, and Randy saw that the offensive was frustrated, so he ordered the coalition army to temporarily withdraw its troops.

The coalition army was originally high-spirited, thinking of taking out Naples in one go, and slaughtering the city for three days to vent, but they did not expect to be hit head-on by the Eastern Roman army, like a bucket of cold water poured on their heads.

Seeing that the morale of the army was low, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces gathered together that night.

People still remember what Randy said three days ago, the Varangian mercenaries surrendered, so they decided to go to the east wall at night according to the agreement, this time there is no need for the Varangians to open the door, as long as they cooperate inside and outside to create chaos, the coalition can take advantage of the situation to attack the city.

But Randy thought more, and when he heard Duke Charlie propose this, he slowly shook his head, but he didn't object.

"Arrange the army first, but don't rush to attack, wait, today's things are a little strange."

After listening to Randy's words, they waited for a while, and then they heard a report from outside the tent that the news in the city had been heard, and Randy breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was a carrier pigeon sent by the Norman agent in the city, so he called in and opened the letter, but after reading it, he frowned.

"The attacking troops can be withdrawn, and the Varangians don't want to surrender at all." Randy said.

The crowd hurriedly asked what was going on, and Randy told the city spies that they had escaped by boat, temporarily burning the Naples docks, and that the Eastern Roman army had been cut off, so they were desperately resisting.

Randy has the memory of the third life, so he naturally knows the truth of the siege of the three queyi, and deliberately leaves a way to live, not because of kindness, but because the enemy has a hope in his heart, and he will not go too far when he is desperate, so as to reduce the difficulty of attacking the city.

In the West, there are not many people who understand this truth, but in the East, there are really many people who know this truth. But knowing is knowing, whether you can see through it is another matter, people always think that they are the smartest, their luck, so the other party in case ...... What if it's overlooked?

That's the truth, although Randy didn't completely explain it, but looking at the faces of the coalition commanders present, they all looked like they were enlightened, the truth was the same, and the people present were not stupid, and they could understand it after a little thought.

"Then Your Majesty, Randy, is it really possible for the other party to attack our rear road by boat?" Duke Charles was attacked by Norman pirates back then, and Groningen, an important industrial and commercial town in Burgundy, was destroyed.

"It's hard to say!"

Randy shook his head, thought for a moment and said: "But just in case, it's better to be vigilant, the other party goes to sea during the day, we have been at night for half a day, without further ado, we will now send a messenger to northern Italy, asking the Holy See to pay attention to the safety of the rear, and at the same time inform the Duke of Edward, who is still in Marseille, to increase the number of troops escorting the baggage, in addition, cavalry is not very useful in siege warfare, we will gather cavalry and patrol along the distance from Naples to Rome, what do you think of this arrangement?" Is there anything else you would like to add? ”

Everyone thought about it, and they all said that His Majesty's arrangement was safe enough, and Randy ordered the meeting to be dismissed, and he went to the Norman spy camp with the army, wrote a letter to the messenger, and ordered to ride north as soon as possible to announce the news.

Randy saw the messenger leave overnight and rode away, feeling a little lost, and secretly reflected that he had carried away a little in the past few days, even if he was indeed the most different, the most unique, and the most powerful king in the legend, but there were still some characters in this world, second only to himself, and equally strong.

If you don't deal with it carefully, you may suffer, but this time it's just a small lesson, and next time you may lose your life.

"Keep up the good work!" Randy said to himself as he lay on the bed.

In fact, Randy was a little overly worried, not that it was wrong for him to be cautious and continue to work hard in the future, but that his strategy of stepping up the defense of the back lane was not necessary.

During the day, the Varangians laughed wildly and seized the ships, then set fire to them at the pier, and after entering the Mediterranean, Harold, the leader of the Varangian mercenaries, sent only a few fast boats, ordered them to go north to cause a little damage, and then sailed south with the main force in the direction of Sicily.

"Boss, aren't we going to attack the enemy's rear?" A henchman asked.

"I've said that many times!" Harold looked speechless, grabbed the guy by the collar and lifted him up, and was about to throw him into the sea, a stout Varangian with their equipment and weapons, definitely weighed more than two hundred pounds, but Harold carried him up without the slightest difficulty.

"Boss, put me down." The Varangian mercenary was frightened and turned pale, although most Varangians know how to use water, but this guy is very heavy in chain armor, and he will definitely not be able to float up if he falls into the water.

"Listen, this is the last time, I definitely don't want to hear this kind of stupid question from your mouth in the future, we are mercenaries, mercenaries, we don't fight to win, we fight to survive and make money, if you can not fight hard, you will never go desperately, to attack the dangerous work of the enemy's rear, just mean it, do you believe what I lied to the dead Greek eunuch?"

Harold said, and the Varangian mercenary nodded desperately, and when Harold finished speaking, he looked at the boss pitifully, wanting to speak but afraid of angering him.

Harold rolled his eyes, flicked his arm, and the Varangian mercenary flew straight to the deck.

"Punish you to brush the deck until Sicily!"

Harold turned and walked away, leaving only the frightened Varangian mercenary gasping for air.

In this way, after a five-day and five-night voyage, the Varangian mercenaries arrived at Palermo, the largest citadel in the north of Sicily, after which Harold, the leader of the mercenaries, mobilized his men to collect ships in Sicily under the guise of Narciss, the governor of the Two Sicilies.

Let's not talk about this first, let's talk about the city of Naples, after Randy's scheduling, the coalition army killed more than 2,000 people on the first day of attacking Naples, and the total strength dropped directly to about 70,000, Narcisse is worthy of being a famous general in Eastern Rome, and the coalition army has launched night raids, sneak attacks, raids and other ways to attack, all of which were cracked by him one by one, and all kinds of material resources in the city of Naples are sufficient, enough to support the Eastern Roman army and the citizens of Naples for at least one year.

Now Narcisse has implemented a food ration system in Naples, the soldiers who participated in the fierce battle on the day were given additional meal rewards, the soldiers who did not participate in the battle were given ordinary share of food, the people who participated in supporting the defense of the city were given 3/4 share of food, and the people who did not participate and the old and weak women and children could only receive 1/2 of the usual food.

Randy also tried to order the Norman spies to use arson, poisoning and other means to destroy these materials, but Narsis was very strict in guarding the arsenal and granary lots, and the Norman spies had no way to start, after repeated failed attempts, they let Narsis know the existence of the spies, and the whole city was under martial law, although all the Norman spies were not found, but most of them were captured, especially those precious carrier pigeons, all of which were taken back by Narsis to barbecue and drink, and Randy lost contact with the city.

The siege of Naples looks very likely to develop into a stalemate, protracted war, and Randy has a headache when he thinks about this, because there is intelligence that Basil II's 200,000 army is already very close to Venice, although the current emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick II, also went south with an army of 150,000 and officially accepted the pope's coronation in Rome, but Randy is not optimistic about this guy at all.

Maybe there is some comparison psychology in this!

Randy's prestige became even louder with the victory in the Battle of Naples, and even as the leader of the entire Catholic League, Frederick, as the strongest country in Europe in the traditional sense, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was not convinced.

Although Randy repeatedly wrote letters, hoping that Frederick could restrain his emotions and wait for him to break through Naples and lead his team north to support, the two armies worked together to fight against the Eastern Roman Empire, and it was not impossible to sacrifice Venice if necessary, but Frederick did not seem to want to listen to Randy's proposal as a so-called ally, and at the same time replied to a letter with vague wording, and still insisted on leading the army in the direction of Venice, and the vanguard even entered the territory of Hungary for a time, and fought several times with the Eastern Roman forward.

(End of chapter)