Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 562 Young Master John Demands a Duel, A French Version of Jiang Gan Stealing the Book [Seeking Subscriptions]

Although the Snow Lion Knights were a cavalry-based legion, since they also had heavy infantry, longbowmen, and light infantry, they naturally carried catapults as well. In those days in Europe, without catapults, it was very difficult to breach a castle, even a small baron's castle.

However, due to baggage issues, the Snow Lion Knights did not carry many catapults, only ten, and they were all small to medium-sized catapults.

The French entourage in the castle were all familiar with cannons, so they naturally had little trouble dealing with these small to medium-sized catapults.

Not to mention, Saran Castle also has catapults, no fewer than those of the Snow Lion Knights. In addition, with the castle defended, even though they have less than half the number of the enemy, they can still fight back and forth.

Upon seeing this, John's expression turned serious.

"Such fighting prowess is truly extraordinary—could it be, as Father said, that they are mercenaries from the Ming Dynasty in disguise?"

With this in mind, John ordered a thousand heavy infantry and a thousand longbowmen to join the battle, leaving only three thousand Snow Lion Knights as a backup.

The addition of heavy infantry and longbowmen had a significant effect. The excellent heavy infantrymen climbed the castle walls several times, only to be driven back down by the enemy. This happened repeatedly, making it seem as if Saran Castle was about to be breached at any moment, yet it never seemed to break through.

It's like when John is having an affair with a certain noblewoman, all the foreplay is done, and he's just one step away from the final act, but the noblewoman always finds an excuse to delay, constantly keeping him in suspense.

With the sun high in the sky and the small Salan Castle still unconquered, John grew furious and ordered, "Let the Snow Lion Knights join the battle!"

Upon hearing this, the attendant Antoine quickly dissuaded him, saying, "General, it's a waste to have the Snow Lion Knights participate in this siege, and their main task is to protect you!"

John roared, "Obey my orders! Send the Snow Lion Knights into battle!"

Seeing that John repeated that this was a military order, Antoine dared not persuade him any further and could only convey the order.

So the three thousand Snow Lion Knights dismounted and joined the battle to attack Saran Castle as elite infantry, leaving John with only a hundred or so servants.

The Snow Lion Knights truly lived up to their reputation as elite cavalrymen trained by the Grand Duchy of Burgundy. Although they fought on foot after dismounting, their combat prowess was no less than that of heavy infantry, and perhaps even stronger.

Their arrival put even more pressure on the "bandits" in Saran Castle, who began climbing the walls at an even faster pace.

Seeing that his side had held out on one of the city walls for a while, John wished he could personally lead his servants into the battle to secure the victory.

However, at this critical moment, the mournful sound of bugles came from behind!

However, two or three thousand cavalry and several thousand infantrymen had arrived outside Saran Castle at some unknown time and were attacking the rear of the Snow Lion Knights.

Attendant Antoine exclaimed, “General, this is a trap—Saran Castle is bait; their target is the Snow Lion Knights, or rather, you!”

As for John, he was completely stunned and lost the ability to think for a moment, let alone give any orders.

Seeing this, Antoine had no choice but to take John's place and give the order for the Snow Lion Knights to break through the encirclement. Then, he led his squires to escort John as they fled first.

However, the enemy seemed to have learned of John's identity, and more than half of the two or three thousand cavalrymen who came to attack the Snow Lion Knights turned around and surrounded John's side.

These cavalrymen were highly elite, with combat skills estimated to be no less than those of the Snow Lion Knights. They also outnumbered John and his more than one hundred retainers in no time.

It was only then that John and Antoine realized that most of these elite cavalrymen had Eastern faces. Without a doubt, they were mercenaries from the Ming Dynasty!

Seeing the menacing aura of the cavalry, John hurriedly shouted, "I am the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Burgundy, and my family can pay a ransom sufficient to redeem me!"

Li Yousheng, the military commander of the Daifan, couldn't understand French at all and didn't have an interpreter with him. However, judging from John's attire and the tense protective manner of his attendants, he knew that John was an important person. So he ordered John, Antoine, and others to be tied up.

In this situation, resistance was suicidal, so John, Antoine, and others obediently accepted their fate of becoming prisoners.

However, only a small portion of the three thousand Snow Lion Knights were involved in the siege. The rest, seeing the situation was dire, received orders from their attendant Antoine to mount their horses and escape quickly. In the end, more than two thousand of them managed to break through the encirclement.

An hour later, the post-war statistics were delivered to Zhu Gui.

The Snow Lion Knights' heavy infantry, longbowmen, and three thousand light infantry were all wiped out. Of these, less than two thousand died in battle, while the remaining three thousand were captured.

As for the Snow Lion Knights, more than 300 were killed in battle and more than 500 were captured.

In addition, ten small and medium-sized catapults and a large quantity of grain and supplies were seized.

After reading it, Zhu Gui smiled dismissively, "This is the famous Snow Lion Knights of France? Not so great. Translator, translate my words to Young Master John."

The awkward title "Young Master John" almost made the translator, who was fluent in both Chinese and French, burst out laughing.

But he still faithfully translated Zhu Gui's words.

John blushed with shame upon hearing this, then shouted, "Let me go, you despicable bandit leader! I challenge you to a duel!"

"A duel?" Zhu Gui was intrigued. "Alright, I'll have a duel!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yousheng, Xiong Tingrui, and Gao Deng immediately became anxious and tried to dissuade him.

"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable!" "This man is nothing but a barbarian. Your Majesty is of noble birth; how could he possibly be worthy to fight you? This humble general is willing to teach this man a lesson on Your Majesty's behalf!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I can also do it in your stead."

Zhu Gui ignored the advice and said, "What are you afraid of? Find two sets of full armor. I and he will both be wearing armor. You can watch from the side. Nothing will happen."

Zhu Gui was determined to do things his own way, and since most of the people here were military officers who were not good at speaking, no one could persuade him for a while.

In the end, Zhu Gui actually began to duel with John.

John hadn't expected that his impulsive shout would be taken seriously by the Ming Dynasty mercenary leader, who was posing as a bandit. Overjoyed, he quickly demanded, "If I win, you have to let me go!"

Zhu Gui confidently replied, "No problem!"

Afterwards, both men changed into full armor. Zhu Gui used a sword at his waist, while John also brought his sword, which had been confiscated from him. The two then faced off in the main hall on the first floor of Saran Castle.

John, as the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Burgundy and a top French nobleman, received training in swordsmanship and horsemanship from a young age. Therefore, although he was a famous playboy in Paris, he was also quite outstanding in horsemanship and swordsmanship.

This was the source of his confidence when he shouted that he wanted to duel with Zhu Gui.

As for Zhu Gui... Zhu Yuanzhang believed that he was good at fighting, and his combat skills were quite outstanding.

After the battle began, John was still probing with old-fashioned fencing techniques, but Zhu Gui used battlefield tactics, relying on his armor to launch fierce attacks, and soon John was forced to flee in terror.

Finally, he kicked John to the ground, stepped on his chest, and pointed his sword at his face.

“You’re not following the rules of the duel, I won’t accept it!” John shouted.

"You're not convinced? These are the rules of duels in our Great Ming Dynasty. What are you complaining about? Otherwise, I'll let you beat me up again!"

John calmed down.

Then he had to admit a fact—he couldn't beat this mercenary leader who looked even younger than him.

Feeling the pain from the beatings on his body, John decided it wasn't worth going through that again, so he cried out, "I can write back to Paris and ask my father, the Grand Duke of Burgundy, to ransom me!"

Zhu Gui ignored John and instead ordered him to be taken away and closely guarded.

Saran, standing to the side, looked regretful when he saw that Zhu Gui had not immediately ordered John to be castrated to keep him company.

But he wasn't surprised. After all, John was the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Burgundy and the first in line to inherit the Duchy of Burgundy. Who would be willing to castrate him so easily? He could get a large ransom in return!
The next day, Counselor Zou Wuji, along with several other advisors and officials, arrived at Saran Castle.

After everyone bowed, Zhu Gui revealed John's identity and then asked, "What do you all think is the best course of action against this man?"

Soon, Zou Wuji said, "Your Majesty, I have a plan that may be used to escalate the internal strife in France, and even trigger a full-scale civil war!"

"Oh?" Zhu Gui's eyes lit up. "What plan?"

"Jiang Gan stole the book!"

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Another day passed, and Zhu Gui led his army away from Saran Castle, setting up camp in a field near nightfall.

John discovered that, perhaps due to the negligence of the mercenaries, the ropes that had been tied around him during the transfer had not been properly secured and had come loose at some point.

That evening, he heard the Ming mercenaries outside feasting, seemingly having a dance party. So he broke free of his ropes and slipped out while the mercenaries guarding him were drunk.

As a result, he had only slipped out of the tent where he was imprisoned a short distance when he saw a familiar face—the translator who was with the leader.

As soon as the translator entered the tent next door, French conversation could be heard coming from inside.

"The Duke of Bourbon really gave us a lot of money."

"That's right. If we're to pretend to be bandits and constantly weaken the Duchy of Burgundy, we have to pay this price, or even more."

"The Duke of Bourbon hates England to the core, yet the Duke of Burgundy insists on signing a twenty-year peace treaty with England. It would be strange if he didn't hate the Duke of Burgundy as much. I think we can suggest that the chieftain ask him for more commission."

"I wonder how much money we can get from the Archduke of Bourbon this time, using that boy John."

"The leader will definitely see who contributes more money, the Grand Duke of Bourbon or the Grand Duke of Burgundy..."

John's face turned ashen upon hearing this.

"Louis II, it turns out he was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes! I knew it! No wonder he agreed to my father's request so easily; he was planning something sinister!"

(End of this chapter)