By dusk of the day, the cold and biting drizzle had finally stopped for a while.

Under the twilight of the setting sun leaking through the gaps in the clouds, the barbarian alliance appeared extremely formidable, with shields lined up neatly arranged to make the team look extremely heavy, and the bronze helmets reflected the color of the metal, like the waves of the ocean; The glow on the tips of the spears seemed to pierce the thick clouds above their heads; From time to time in the dim sky, a bolt of lightning would light up, and it was the terrifying light reflected by the snow-bright battle axe.

The soldiers had gathered in formation outside the city, flaunted their might, and cursed the Romans for their timidity, and then began to indulge in their own pleasures.

-- On the outskirts of the plundered city of Gloucester, curling smoke was lit. The allied Anglo-barbarian forces that surrounded the city of Gloucester boasted of their prowess and flaunted their heads hanging from their saddles, while slaughtering and cutting the freshly snatched cattle and sheep and roasting them on the fire, while gulping down the wine and beer they had just snatched. There were also some naked captive women, forced by the sword to laugh, to the intruders to drink and dance, and even to fall directly on the wet grass, regardless of the public......

As for the prospects of this expedition, so far the entire Anglo-nation coalition is very optimistic.

In the previous wilderness battle, the Roman emperor hastily put together hundreds of miscellaneous soldiers with wooden sticks and pitchforks, and in a few turns, they were completely defeated by the mighty "army" of 2,000 of the Anglos; After the ensuing raid on the outskirts of the city, they captured the Roman empress, who had been stranded outside the city and had not returned. also killed the crown prince who rushed out of the city to rescue...... It is believed that as long as the head of the crown prince and the captured queen are escorted to Barton Hill, the Roman emperor, who has been exhausted by repeated sieges and exhausted, will definitely not be able to hold out any longer. Surrender obediently.

Although during the daytime raid, they were not able to take advantage of the chaos to rush into the city walls. But after all, he plundered a lot of food and wealth, and killed the only son of the Roman emperor and captured his queen...... Therefore, at this time, Gloucester City must have been leaderless and in chaos.

There is now the Archbishop of Britannia in charge of the defense, as well as a thousand citizens who can mobilize. But morale and fighting spirit have long since fallen to the bottom, and precious swords and ordnance have been lost in battle. It's just barely holding on to the situation by inertia.

Therefore, after two successive defeats, even the leaders were either dead or captured. The city's resistance was already weak. As long as the Western Roman Emperor who was trapped on Barton Hill was eliminated, this "rich" city would no longer have the determination and liliang to continue to resist.

Of course, if the Romans in the city were determined to fight to the death, they would have had enough patience. Crack open this hard walnut little by little. All while making the most of the time difference. Defeat the reinforcements that may be sent by the Celtic kingdoms of the surrounding countries one by one.

-- According to the custom of the Dark Ages in the Middle Ages, a siege always lasted for a long time, sometimes for a year or two.

Before that, however, the Anglo warriors who had made the long journey had to camp in the suburbs for a while to recuperate and relieve their fatigue - for the pure infantry of this era. An expedition across the entire island of Great Britain is also physically demanding.

And. In the current rainy weather, it can be a headache to collect wood and build siege equipment.

In this era of extremely underdeveloped medicine, there are many tragic cases of cold and fever caused by a rain, and Zuihou led to a whimper.

However, what they didn't know was that countless figures in camouflage uniforms had arrived one after another, and they were close at hand......

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"Oops, oops~ This blonde girl is tied up! Oops, oops~ She can't break free no matter how she struggles! Oops, oops~ The clothes are torn off! ”

Through the field of vision of the military binoculars, Yuanqi Lori Cai Rong shouted and reported the enemy situation at the same time, especially the on-site report of a female prisoner of war being ravaged - the delicate skin was pinched around, countless dirty hands roamed around the body, all kinds of lewd laughter continued, the woman screamed and cried only brought beatings and more unbearable treatment, and no one came to help her when she broke her throat, and her ears were full of the terrible appearance of barbarian men......

It is indeed very miserable, but it can be said to be pitiful...... But what does this have to do with the combat objectives of the traversers?!

“…… Don't give me a lot of sympathy, you're not the legendary Madonna! Ma Tong knocked her forehead angrily, "...... What about the enemy outside the walls? What is the success rate of our army in swallowing them in one gulp? ”

“…… About 1,000 people, plus more than 500 horses, are basically the same as the confession of the 'tongue' that was caught earlier. Cai Rong's face was a little strange, as if she was holding back a smile, "...... It's really like what he said, it's an 'unprecedented' 'army'! ”

-- When I heard about the strength of the enemy in the vicinity of the Roman princess's place of distress, most modern people generally felt that even if they had some acting skills, it would be difficult to keep a strange expression on their faces......

First of all, the scale of the Anglo barbarians' investment in this war is not small! Commanders with five terrible names in their own hands!

Even among all the Anglo-Saxons shili on the island of Great Britain, the five kings who sent troops this time were extremely powerful and superior princes, because of their armed strength, they have always been considered an important pillar of the fierce tug-of-war between the two peoples!

In short, the force of these five kings was extraordinary across the whole of Britain, and this time they arrived at the battlefield with a full forty knights! He also brought more than 500 infantry and more than 350 followers! With the addition of archers, servants, and slaves, their ranks reached a remarkable number of two thousand on the battlefield—about the same number as the middle school Wang Qiu had attended.

――I think back to the principal of the middle school who had to nod his head when he saw the director of the district education bureau, and he was labeled as "extremely powerful." The Anglo monarch of the "pillar of the nation" tag overlapped, and Wang Qiu couldn't help but feel a twisted cramp on his face, and his stomach hurt with laughter.

“…… Anyway. They finally sent a group of reserve slaves......" Wang Qiu muttered as he issued the general attack order.

Then, in the twilight of the land of Britain, a short battle began quickly and without warning, and then ended even more quickly.

-- For future warriors with technology more than 1,500 years ahead, it would be too easy to suppress and exterminate this group of barbarians.

First, send sentinels to reconnoiter from a distance, and then use drones to determine the location of the enemy camp; Then. Before the barbarians in the camp could argue about what the "Iron Bird" flying in the sky was, the 107 rocket artillery position urgently arranged by Wang Qiu had been fully completed, braving the continuous drizzle. Began to pour fire on the enemy camp...... Rocket after rocket whizzing with orange-tailed flames, and in an instant, the camp made of animal skin tents by the Anglos turned into a raging sea of fire. Countless stumps and severed arms were flying in the churning waves......

Under this kind of indiscriminate bombardment that is completely beyond the comprehension of humans in this plane. The Anglo coalition, which was originally a rabble, soon collapsed completely. No matter how fierce a warrior is, no matter how strong the leather armor is, it looks so fragile in the flames, heat waves and shrapnel flying from the rocket bombardment...... The remaining Anglos left behind their horses, weapons, and booty, and fled from the barracks that had been reduced to hell in crying, and fled across the wilderness, only to be confronted by a thousand strangers dressed in colorful clothes. Sweeping them head-on with a "fire-breathing metal weapon"!

-- Cold weapons vs. hot weapons, ancient people vs. modern people. And the side with backward weapons does not have the advantage of troops, and the result is naturally self-evident.

A short sword and a tomahawk can only kill if they face each other, while the bullets of a Type 5 or 6 automatic rifle can shoot people down ferociously from a distance of 300 meters.

Thus, less than twenty minutes later, more than a thousand Anglo warriors outside Gloucester were defeated by the same number of "unprofessional" vampire hunters. Even the guys who wanted to escape on horseback were constantly pursued by the Mercedes-Benz off-road vehicle and shot off the horse one by one.

Although some powerful barbarian druids chanted incantations and turned themselves into wild boars, bears and other fierce beasts, they seemed to be very powerful. But in the face of the bullets that swept in like a torrential rain, the bear's fur was no stronger than the rudimentary leather armor.

The defenders of Gloucester City were also jubilant when they saw this, and hurriedly opened the gates of the city to help in the battle - since they had seen the British at the "Carmellot" research station hunting with guns a few times before, they were slightly more receptive to hot weapons - of course, by the time the improvised militia in the city rushed into the battlefield with sticks and axes, their task was only to clean up the battlefield and capture prisoners.

This was a very rare opportunity for the poor inhabitants of Gloucester to make extra money - the clothes, hides, helmets, armor, swords, arrows, jewelry, and dry rations of the dead, and the horses scattered by the artillery fire, were very good fortunes. As for the wounded who were humming and chirping, it depended on the situation, and the lightly wounded strong laborers were tied up with ropes as slaves, and the seriously injured losers were cut their throats and destroyed humanely......

“…… These slaves are strong! Even if you can't do a job like mining, it's always okay to organize them to cut down trees. ”

Looking at these dejected, flowery, but tall and muscular Anglo prisoners of war, Wang Qiu touched his chin and commented, "...... It's a pity that there were too many guys who were killed by rocket artillery and bullets just now, and they couldn't form an encirclement in time, so that many enemies took advantage of the chaos to escape...... At present, there are less than fifty captives with intact limbs that can be used as slaves, and the remaining seriously wounded can only be executed humanely. Oh, by the way, Arthur, there must be some Romans in this city who know how to train slaves! Can you put me in touch? ”

“…… Are you going to use these people as slaves to gather resources for your country? It really complicated for me. ”

On the edge of the battlefield filled with the smell of gunpowder, Arthur crutches the sword of victory of the oath that Ma Tong picked up from the anime exhibition, Excalibur - a Japanese animation peripheral product produced by Wenzhou Small Hardware Factory - looking at the corpses and pools of blood everywhere. With a melancholy face, he said, "...... Although they are ignorant and backward, brutal and bloodthirsty, they also believe in the barbaric paganism of human sacrifice...... But after all, it's our ancestors! ”

“…… Belch. Sorry, doesn't seem to have taken your feelings into account, Arthur. Wang Qiu pursed his lips, realizing that he really hadn't thought of this question.

In fact, for the time-travelers who have descended to another shijie, when they need to choose a side in their ancient homeland, they will often encounter some very tangled mental troubles - to give an example of their own country. If a very disciplined Chinese travels back to the ancient flood era, facing the entanglement of the Yellow Emperor, the Yan Emperor, and the Chi You, I am afraid that he will also feel that he has a lawsuit on his head...... Well. If you encounter a certain situation and need to help Chi You deal with the Yellow Emperor, then is it considered a traitor? Well, that's a tangling question.

“…… It's already another shijie. Some things don't have to be so careful! Wang Qiu thought for a moment. And he persuaded again.

“…… As a foreigner, how can you possibly understand my feelings! Mr. Wang! Arthur gave him a somewhat unhappy look, "...... If the next time you come to a different Shijie and meet a guy who traveled to the Japanese camp during the Second Shijie War and mixed well, will you help Japan in that time and space to conquer China because of this person's request, so as to obtain all kinds of high-profit resources? ”

“…… This one...... It just depends on the situation! Wang Qiu said perfunctorily, "...... Some things require collective decision-making......"

After another moment. Seeing the sun set, the battlefield has been roughly cleaned. The captives were also taken to cages in the slave market in the city...... So, at the invitation of Princess Theophanus, the traversers, numbering more than a thousand, entered the city of Gloucester to receive hospitality.

――This is also the first time that Wang Qiu has entered the urban settlement of the indigenous people of this time and space since he came to this era.

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Not to mention that from a modern point of view, even in the eyes of Princess Theophanus, Gloucester City is not a good place to live.

In the era of the ancient Roman Empire, several large cities in the West had developed to a very advanced level, with elevated aqueducts and underground waterways that supplied daily water to hundreds of thousands of people, as well as collective apartments, public baths, arenas, libraries and other welfare and recreational facilities. Unfortunately, with the invasion of the barbarians and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman cities were destroyed one after another, and most of Europe fell back into the dark wilderness.

Therefore, when Princess Theophanus was far away from the elegance and simplicity of Athens and the hustle and bustle of Constantinople, and came to the western part of the British Province, a poor country where birds don't, she immediately felt a sense of suffocation brought by the huge contrast.

-- The small, dark and damp houses, the mottled walls with perennial moss and dirt, the potholed roads with sewage flowing, and the cold and wet climate of Britain with rain and fog all year round, even in the warmest and clearest summers, mushrooms grew in some rooms of the Emperor's palace.

If you want to open the windows and look out at the street, you have to cover your nose in advance to prevent the stench - the excrement dumped from the upper floors of every house will never dry the mud on the streets of the city; Residential areas that were once well-planned are in disrepair due to sewers, and are surrounded by excrement and all kinds of waste; Buzzing mosquitoes and flies disappear only temporarily during the coldest winter months, and when the rainy season comes, the air is always filled with all kinds of rotten stench; Narrow and winding streets are often clogged with debris, and when the weather is clear, it becomes a new fire hazard.

Even in the inner city walls, most people live under the same roof as livestock, and it is not uncommon to see children wading barefoot in muddy water to play with pigs and sheep. Pedestrians on the street walk and their legs become covered in mud. The thatched huts, which leaked on all sides, were the dwellings of the craftsmen, and the merchants' shops were slightly better, with draperies made of linen, but they were always hard to guard against thieves.

The tattens are always filled with drunken drunkards and violent people. Those vulgar and bold prostitutes, and the bar girls who don't know what shame is, often flirt and have fun without shyness in public.

The cathedral of Gloucester is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, but only the walls and pedestals are made of stone - the dome and triangular vault of the ancient Roman Empire have been completely lost in barbarian Britannia, and Emperor Romulus brought only troops from Gaul, not architects. Therefore, after recovering the city of Gloucester from the barbarians, the British Church had to build the ceiling of the church with wooden beams and planks on the basis of stone walls. Due to the poor lighting, the church is dimly lit all day long, and during the day it is necessary to light the lamp to see clearly, and the smoke from the grease and burning candles makes the air particularly dirty...... A few brightly colored inlaid glass windows, imported from Syria and other places in the Eastern Roman Empire, are almost the only highlights of the church.

-- Jishu is degrading, public facilities are abandoned, population is decreasing, trade is shrinking, and morality is declining...... This was the most prosperous city in the entire province of Britain in 500 AD, and it was also the norm in most of the Roman cities that were gradually being destroyed in the early Dark Middle Ages. (To be continued......)