Section 18 Countermeasures

"Look, what's that?" a lieutenant pointed to the city. Following his direction, he saw several X-shaped wooden frames erected at the head of the city, each with a person hanging from it.

"Oops, it's the one we were captured before!" someone recognized the identity of the person on the shelf.

"What to do, General, retreat, so that the soldiers will not see this tragedy. "Someone proposed.

"No, let the soldiers see it. See what happens when you become a captive. Shatter their worst illusions. Rudolph replied.

An equally bloody and cruel scene took place in the city. Ashrufat easily found a willing executioner from among the militia - the brutality of the Paros had angered everyone just now. Now people's hearts are as cold as iron, and they no longer have any compassion.

The tragic voices of the victims echoed for a long time. Because they had better energy and vitality than the captives executed in the city, they were tortured longer and more varied. It wasn't until dusk, when the last captive took the last breath, that Paro's army retreated.

The first thing Rudolph did when he returned to the camp was to find his engineer.

"How's it going?"

"All the best, General. If you work day and night, you may be able to speed it up a little more. ”

"If you dig at night, you are likely to be detected by the enemy, after all, the gunpowder explosion is very loud. Rudolph thought about it. "Well, it's okay at night, but you have to make sure it's a manual dig at night. ”

"General, what are you going to do after you dig up?" There are three options, the first is to blast it with gunpowder under the city...... I'm seventy or eighty percent sure that the walls will come down. The second is to dig a passage into the city and let the soldiers come out at night to attack and seize the city gates. The third is to dig a passage into the city, but you can rush out during the day, when the frontal battle is in full swing. These three different ones mean that I can dig in a targeted manner and be able to increase my progress. ”

"Oh, tell me about it, what's the difference. ”

"First, I don't need to care about the size of the tunnel, the ventilation, and so on. As long as it's enough for people to climb in and stuff gunpowder in, it's the fastest. The second is to pay a little attention to the width and height of the tunnel, after all, it takes a while to lurk. Thirdly, you need to pay close attention to this aspect, because it requires people to hide in full gear for a while to wait for the best time. So to dig the most spacious, naturally the slowest speed. ”

"Of course, the risk is also proportional. The first is that I'm only seventy or eighty percent sure that I'll be able to knock down the walls. The second ...... If you accidentally get discovered by the enemy when you get out of the hole at night, it will be dangerous....... The third type has the highest reliability, even if it is discovered by the enemy, but it is the slowest to dig tunnels. ”

"As much as I like the first one, I'm not sure enough. It's the third one. It's better to dig slower and delay for a few more days, but it's important to get it right the first time!"

The engineer stepped back. Now Rudolph can finally adjust his mood. He carefully calculated the time, as long as he could capture Drake in winter, then wait for the weather to be a little warmer in spring...... It should still be fine. He had already used various methods to give orders to the defenders of the border castle defense line to control rations and collect supplies as far as possible. Either way, it's absolutely fine to make it to spring. Some well-stocked castles can even hold out until early summer.

In fact, even if he didn't have a magician, and without this newly invented excavation technique, he was certain that he would be able to forcibly capture Drake by attacking him head-on. But this kind of task cannot be done by relying on infantry recruited from among the civilian population and unreliable mercenaries - who can only be used as consumables to drain the enemy's physical strength - and must rely on the Knights at critical moments. But he didn't want to throw the elite Knights into this flesh mill-like battlefield and burn them out.

Casilos had not yet been completely pacified, and the main forces of St. Jean were still trying to capture the fortress complex on the border. Although the current battle is crucial, it is by no means the last one, and all the blood cannot be shed here.

In another rather large tent not far from his tent, Master Koenig, the High Priest of the Church of the True God, was performing a mysterious ritual.

It was dark in the tent, and the smell of a particular spice permeated the room.

A few candles provide minimal illumination. Although the tents were sealed and the wind from outside could not blow in at all, the candles still flickered as if a wind was blowing them.

A faint glow illuminated the strange arrangements in the room. A scroll that radiated a mysterious light was suspended above a boiling cauldron at the moment. Master Koenig poured a pinch of powder into the pot with his fingers. This is a crucial step in the entire spell ritual, and any mistake will cause the power of the scroll to spiral out of control, and no one wants to see that kind of consequence.

Master Koenig recited a series of prayers, which were now endowed with a mysterious power, and each syllable seemed to have life, hovering in the air and refusing to dissipate. But this is the true power of the Light Prayer. Ordinary people thought that these prayers were just meaningless religious poems and canons, but only the high priests knew about them, and when they really exerted their power, they were enough to completely destroy the essence of life.

The reels reacted. A pitch-black aura rose from the scroll. Master Koenig could feel his hair twist and flutter as if it had come to life. If it weren't for the help of the two assistants, perhaps he would have been overwhelmed by the pressure and completely messed up the ritual.

Sparks of energy begin to dance around the reels. With a short spell, the magical energy was released, and the pitch-black aura dissipated. Now, the most powerful guardian power placed on the scroll has been lifted.

Master Koenig smiled before reaching out to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Although he has exactly the right approach and many times of experience. But in order to remove the protection on this scroll, he still ran out of energy. And that's not even the whole defense of the scroll.

According to the correct procedure, it will take another five to ten days to complete this work, and little by little all the protective power will be removed.

But such a powerful defense is worth it! The magic contained in the scroll is the most sacred power infused by the gods of the Star Field, which can wipe a city off the face of the earth in an instant. In fact, it was useless to use its strength to break through Drake's walls, and it was a knife to kill chickens.

When Master Koenig set out for Paro, the Bishop gave him two such scrolls. One of them had already been used on the walls of the city of Flos, allowing Paro's army to capture Cassilos' royal city without much effort.

Master Koenig left the boiler, he needed to relax. Such a high-intensity spell consumed too much of his physical strength and energy. To ensure safety, he must have a day off tomorrow and continue to disarm the day after tomorrow. When this scroll is safe to use, it will be the end of Drake Castle.

Of course, there must be one more small issue to be done before that. The moles are a nuisance - they look like they're going to have a good chance of breaching the castle too. And in terms of time, it is still a little morning before the defense is completely disarmed by the scroll.

......

"We have to strengthen our defenses. Ashrufaat spoke.

There were four participants in this small meeting. Ashrufat, Leo, William Daly, and Thomas lying in bed, unable to move.

After today's events, after a short period of revenge and pleasure, everyone's hearts are very heavy. As everyone knows, after today's horrific scene of torture and killing of prisoners, the two strong emotions of anger and fear have filled the hearts of the officers and men of the two armies. Tomorrow's battle must be extremely terrible and bloody.

"There are two main problems right now. The first is that our catapults are insufficient, and the second is that the bows and arrows are not lethal enough! I found some lightly wounded soldiers in bandages in the enemy today, and they were obviously all arrow wounds. But they were mixed with ordinary soldiers, and there was no doubt that the bow and arrow were not powerful enough. This is especially true for people with good armor. ”

"Ashrufat, you may not know the way...... The archers have their own bows. Leo explained. "The quality is uneven. You can't expect each of them to have a strong bow. We just hope that they will disrupt the enemy and destroy those who are lightly armed and unarmoured. Couldn't have wished for more. ”

"But that's not enough right now. Ashrufat replied. "It's a battle that requires each of us to give our all. ”

"And what are you going to do?"

"Carry the cannons we captured onto the walls. Then let all the archers who are not good at bows and arrows, or who are not strong enough to have their arms, take their crossbows or muskets - we have a lot of captured muskets and crossbows in our warehouses, and we have plenty of ammunition. If there are not enough people, let a part of the militia also carry muskets. ”

"But...... These weapons will not be used by the militias. ”

"Muskets and crossbows do not require training. Especially muskets. Didn't the greyhounds master the muskets very quickly, and we captured a lot of musketeers. The captives can teach the militia to use muskets. If the captives dare to refuse......" A frightening smile appeared on Ashrufat's face. "They won't refuse. ”

"But muskets can only fire in a straight line. You have to look up to shoot at the enemies under the city. Wouldn't that be a huge increase in our casualties?" questioned Leo again.

"There's no need to do that, let's have the musketeers on the turrets and shoot from the muzzles. The musket takes too long to reload, and we can change that. Equip a skilled gunner with ten muskets, and then arrange for ten assistants to reload him behind him. In this way, the shooting accuracy and shooting speed will be very high, one shot at a time!"

"What about the gunner? The cannon is not a weapon that can be mastered by learning it twice. William Daly asked.

"We have captured gunners, let them operate. Each cannon was watched by several knights. If these captives dare to play any tricks, they will be summarily executed!"

"But it is against the ......honor of the knight," William Daley argued, but at once he said nothing. After today's incident, what kind of knightly honor is there to talk about? Now, the officers and men of both armies are red-eyed.

"And, I think, soak the arrowhead part of the arrow in the dung!" continued Ashrufat. "After doing this, even a slight abrasion can easily lead to a fatal disease. ”