The noisy shouts of killing and the roar of artillery fire woke Lu Xiao from his slumber.

Shaking his still somewhat drowsy head, Lu Xiao hurriedly got up from the bed, and when he opened the door, he found that there was chaos inside and outside the Auditore Manor.

The maids panicked and went back to their rooms to hide, and Mario's pre-battle encouragement came from the training ground outside the manor.

"Mercenaries! Drive those no-fart idiots back and let them know whose territory Monteriggioni is! ”

Although he is a member of the aristocracy, Mario is heroic and hearty by nature, and does not like to carry it like those nobles who have a self-respecting status.

His unscrupulous swear words were popular among the rude group of mercenaries, who in rudimentary leather armor let out a high-spirited battle cry and ran to the city walls under the leadership of their respective squad leaders.

"Mario!"

Lu Xiao called out to the lord of Monteriggioni, who was also about to climb the city wall, "Monteriggioni has been attacked? Which side? ”

"Hah!"

Mario had a disdainful expression on his face, and pulled the corners of his mouth with a sneer: "Who else can there be?" A lackey of the Templars and a clown of the Patch family. ”

"The Patch family?"

Lu Xiao felt that he had heard this name somewhere, but he couldn't recall it clearly for a while.

"It's hard to put into words, let's talk as we go."

Mario kept at his feet, beckoned Lu Xiao to follow him, and briefly explained to him the origin of the Patch family on the way to the city wall.

The Pache family was also an aristocratic family with roots in Tuscany and Florence, and similar to the Auditore family, they also relied on the banking industry to make their fortunes in Florence, and the seeds of discord between the two families had long been sown because of the competition for the family business.

"Auditore is an Assassin and Patch is a Templar, and even if there is no banking conflict, we will never get along."

Mario said categorically, "The Pache family has had a bitter feud with Auditore since the 14th century, and they were instrumental in the siege of Monteriggioni by the Templars. ”

"Unaware of the secret Shroud, the Shroud has been secretly transferred, and every once in a while they will rally forces to attack Monteriggioni in an attempt to take the Pieces of Eden from the Brotherhood's possession in order to take credit from their masters."

Mario was passionate about the Brotherhood's ideals and spent many years campaigning for it, dedicating himself to the cause of the Italian Brotherhood.

However, due to Mario's perennial expeditions, he is not qualified as a lord.

The city of Monteriggioni was in disrepair, lacking adequate defenses, and its impenetrable walls were damaged in many places by the artillery bombardment of the Pache family.

However, the Patch family is only one of many bankers, and the amount of artillery they can raise is limited, even in the face of a small and dilapidated castle like Monteriggioni.

This was not the first time that the Auditore and Pache families had fought, and after Mario climbed the walls, he skillfully commanded the archers to hide behind the battlements, waiting for the artillery to fill the gaps in ammunition and release arrows below the city.

Artillery was introduced to Europe by the Mongols in the 14th century, and the artillery of this era was still very backward, using the breech loading method, the loading process was extremely cumbersome, and it took a certain amount of time to clean the chamber and load new ammunition after each shot, and the destructive power of the solid bullet fired was also relatively urgent.

"Shoot the arrows!"

Mario drew the sword at his waist and gave a loud command, and the mercenaries behind the battlements drew their bowstrings in an orderly manner and shot down the city.

Monteriggioni had no moat, and the private soldiers of the Pache family pushed the carts and shouted trumpets to storm the strong gates, killing or wounding many soldiers who were wielding siege weapons in a rain of arrows falling from the sky.

Mario's well-trained mercenaries were significantly superior to the Patch family's private soldiers in terms of combat quality, and before the cannon was reloaded, a rain of arrows fell into the city, accurately hitting the Patch family's soldiers, and the screams of the city were endless.

Lu Xiao had never participated in actual combat before, and looking at the tragic situation under the city, he hesitated slightly.

Sooner or later, I'll experience this day, so be mentally prepared in advance. ’

Gritting his teeth, Lu Xiao pulled out a hard-stringed longbow from the weapon rack of the city wall, slowly pulled the bowstring full with the muscles of his hands, and aimed at a Patch family officer who was riding a horse and commanding the battle.

"Suck ~"

Take a deep breath and hold it to avoid the body rhythm caused by natural breathing affecting your accuracy.

Clairvoyance not only simply improves the visual distance, Lu Xiao's dynamic vision has also been greatly improved under the effect of this passive skill.

The commander rode back and forth between the teams, his high-pitched command heard even from the city walls.

This commander should have a lot of combat experience, and he chose a command position that exceeded the limit of the shooting distance of most archers.

The special longbow used by Lu Xiao has a longer range than ordinary bows and arrows, but it takes a lot of strength to pull this bow apart.

Although the mercenaries were well-trained and powerful, they did not have marksmen who specialized in marksmanship, and could not guarantee the accuracy of the bow with full force drawn, and usually did not use this special longbow made specifically for sniping.

"Drink!"

With Lu Xiao's soft shout, the feather arrow on the bow shot out quickly.

Under Mario's expectant gaze, just one second later, the commander, who was still in motion, was shot in the forehead, and before he could even scream, he fell under the horse with his eyes wide open.

"Wow!"

The panicked neighing of the horses woke up the sluggish Patch privates, and the sudden death of the commander caused panic in the Patch family's attacking team.

"Beautiful!"

Mario clenched his fists excitedly, but he did not forget his duty as a commander, and immediately gave a loud order: "Keep firing arrows!" The cavalry come with me, and get ready to go out of the city in pursuit! ”

"Oh!"

Unsurprisingly, the Patch family, whose commander was sniped, fell into chaos, and many soldiers fled on the spot, setting off a chain reaction in which a large number of soldiers fled in a panic without command.

"Crunch!"

The thick gates of Monteriggioni slowly opened, and Mario himself led the cavalry to swarm out.

"Charge! Huge bounties await you! ”

For mercenaries, bounties are the most tangible and motivating slogan.

Mario, who was in the prime of life, personally led the team to rush into the ranks of the fleeing Patch family and slashed and slashed, and this one-sided battle was no longer suspenseful.

Lu Xiao still stood on the city wall and aimed his longbow at the elites of the Pache family who still maintained the will to fight, and killed them accurately one by one.

This was the case with the 15th-century battles between small feudal lords, lacking a systematic command system, and once the commander was killed, the end of the battle was usually announced.

The city of Monteriggioni won a great victory, and by the way, the five guns brought by the Pache family were captured, and the harvest was very rich.

Mario happily fulfilled his promise, and the mercenaries cheered and rushed to the tavern in the city after receiving the bounty.

The mercenaries who pin their heads around their waists all day long are in danger, and no one can guarantee that they will survive the next battle, so they have developed a habit of having fun in time, and the bounties they get usually don't stay in their hands for long.

"It's a pity."

Mario sighed as he looked at the mercenaries who were leaving with their backs on their shoulders: "I'm not a good lord to bring prosperity to Monteriggioni, and there are not even brothels in the city where the mercenaries can relax. ”

The corners of Lu Xiao's mouth twitched, he was a little uncomfortable with Mario's speech from a modern harmonious society.

But in 15th-century Europe, brothels were a common establishment, with every city of size having at least one brothel.

The problem of Monteriggioni City is not a lack of money, Giovanni, as a banker, can provide Mario with ample funds, and what Mario lacks is the energy to develop the city.

As a remote town with little character, Monteriggioni could hardly attract a lot of business and travel, and without trade flow, it would not be able to prosper.

"Don't talk about that."

Mario shook his head, put his worries away for a while, and patted Lu Xiao's shoulder with a hearty laugh.

"The first merit of this battle will be credited to you, come with me, and I will show you a good thing."