eastern european eagle

Chapter 610: Attacking Reval

The Livonian Conference finally concluded that it was necessary to form a four-nation alliance with Teutonic, Polish, and Lithuanian states to fight against Russia. However, when they were preparing to conclude the alliance, Russia had already launched its first attack.

Heading west from Narva is Reval, the most important city in Livonia. Once ruled by Russia, it is now an important northern port in Livonia.

Commander Narva pointed at the map and said, "General, Reval has reinforced their defenses after we withdrew. Now the walls here are very strong. It will take at least a month to take them down."

Grushenko, who was in charge of the northern offensive, felt that a month was too long. He had to lead 20,000 troops this time, not only to capture Reval, but also to move south to occupy Riga. More importantly, after taking Reval, the Finnish army could move south faster.

As an important diplomatic achievement of Michael, Finland began to be governed. In addition to establishing the Finnish province, a port was built in the south, and the abundant local timber became the main source of income. At the same time, the Sami people in the north were gradually assimilated by Russia. They began to join the army and make money through business.

Grushenko pointed to the icon of Reval and asked, "How many soldiers are there here?"

"I'm afraid there will be no less than 4000 people, because they value this place very much. If this place is gone, they will only have Riga as the port for trade."

"More than 4000 people. If they join forces with another army, then the enemy forces in the south of Reval will number nearly 21." Grushenko said slowly.

Everyone looked solemn. They knew that the Tsar had already started to march towards Minsk, and this army would not have any soldiers to assist it for the time being, so they had to rely on themselves for everything.

Grushenko also had a solemn expression on his face. He knew that no matter how brave the Russian army was, it would be impossible for them to capture Reval in a short period of time. According to reconnaissance, the Livonian army had been undergoing long-term training. In addition, the army had been fighting continuously since the founding of the country, and was definitely not as easy to deal with as the Kazan people.

He stared at the map, thought for a while, pointed to the south of Reval, and said, "Tomorrow, I will lead my troops to camp here, and then see if we can lure the army in the south of the city to fight with us!"

The others agreed. Grushenko slammed the table and said, "It's settled! Tomorrow morning, I will set out with an army! You must seize the time to attack the city. You must take down Reval no matter what you have to do."

"Yes"

On the next morning, the Russian army officially launched the offensive.

This time they used 40 artillery pieces to bombard Reval, because the Tsar had ordered that only the land should be taken, not the people. So their attack was particularly fierce.

"Charge! For the Tsar!"

The soldiers rushed forward in a rush, and the defenders used everything they could to stop their attack.

"Shoot!!!" On the city wall, the officer gave the order, and the archer pulled the bowstring diagonally upwards. Like a crescent moon, iron wires shot out, drawing countless arcs in the air. Carrying their own weight and the curse of death, they swooped down with a roar.

A round of crossbow arrows, bringing with them muffled sounds and screams, penetrated into the flesh, splashing countless gorgeous blood flowers, and lives were instantly shattered.

However, at this time, the siege troops quickly reached the bottom of the city wall, quickly set up the ladder, and began to climb up. The heavy battering ram was also pushed vigorously to the city gate, hitting the city gate again and again, making a non-stop "bang bang!" sound.

The resistance of the defending soldiers did not scare off the attackers, but only made the besieging soldiers climb up the city walls more frantically.

Siege ladders were pushed down and erected again. Rows of siege soldiers stared with bloodshot eyes and climbed up desperately without fear of death. Battering rams slammed the heavy city gates again and again, and the "bang bang" sounds filled the sky above Reval.

This battle lasted from morning to night. The attacking army relied on their numerical advantage to attack repeatedly, climbing up the city walls many times and being driven down many times, resulting in a seesaw battle. The area near the city gate was filled with burnt and smashed equipment and corpses, which raised the soil under the city wall by several meters.

In today's one-day battle, the Russian army lost 1800 people, and the defenders also suffered 700 casualties. Both sides are waiting for the third day to come, and they are confident that the victory or defeat can be decided in the shortest time.

In the early morning of the third day, dark clouds covered the rising sun, and the whole earth was covered with gray. After a day of fierce fighting, the soldiers guarding the city were exhausted and fell asleep against the city wall, leaving only a few sentinels who tried to keep their eyes open and looked anxiously at the enemy camp covered by the morning mist.

Early in the morning, people were most vulnerable and paralyzed. Even the soldiers on guard could not help but occasionally get confused. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the arrow tower on the city wall seemed to be trembling slightly.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The sentries rang the alarm bells desperately, echoing in the early morning sky. All the defenders stood up and rushed to the city wall.

Suddenly, a huge shout of killing rang out, and all the siege formations rushed towards the city wall. They ignored the crossbows fired from the city wall and concentrated their artillery fire on one point.

There were continuous explosions outside the city gate. A group of soldiers were already squatting behind the city gate. They all looked nervous, but no one backed down. Sweat kept pouring down, but they didn't care at all. Another explosion was heard, and a big hole was blown out of the city gate. Before it was over, the second explosion blew the city gate open at an astonishing speed!
"Attack, rush in!"

Seeing a hole, the Russian army immediately rushed into the city. They launched a massive cleanup of the outer city, sending all the soldiers or civilians who had not yet escaped or were still on the way to escape to see God. The situation on the city wall was not much better, and the soldiers could only retreat to a more advantageous place in the city for defense.

The walls of the outer city were almost completely captured, and the residents immediately fell into panic. They ran around desperately, but most of them ended up being killed by the Russians.

Their advance was so fast, and with the help of artillery outside the city, it was like a tiger with wings! Soon most of Reval fell.

The defenders retreated to Reval Castle for defense, but how could the Russian army let it go? The transferred artillery kept firing shells at the castle, one after another, and also brought more powerful siege equipment. The castle gate was shaky, and the soldiers were trying their best to hold the gate. If it was broken, it would be all over.

(End of this chapter)