I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 91: Bloody Battle at the Castle (Part )
"Lieutenant Motley, the enemy has been repelled by us!"

A young swordsman wearing chain mail excitedly raised his crossbow and shouted to Lieutenant Crado Motley standing beside him.

"I'm pretty sure I just shot an enemy to death... Look, that's the corpse. The crossbow bolt stuck in his neck was shot by me!"

"Well done, young man."

Lieutenant Motley, who had a fair face, no beard and a high nose bridge, spoke words of praise to the young soldiers, but he also did not forget to criticize them.

"I noticed that when you were shooting the arrow just now, your upper body was sticking out. This is very dangerous, soldier. If you do that again, you will have to clean the toilet for three days!"

"Oh my God, Lieutenant Motley, I won't do it again... No, there won't be a next time."

After seeing the young man nod obediently, Lieutenant Motley walked around the wall with satisfaction, examining and reviewing the mental state of his subordinates in the platoon.

Tonight was a dangerous night. The enemy's attack was so sudden that after the alarm sounded, except for Lieutenant Motley who was sleeping by the city gate and more than ten sentries on duty, everyone else was still sleeping in the dormitory inside the castle.

So after the alarm bell was sounded, more than ten minutes passed before more than twenty people gradually returned to the team, arrived at the city gate, and rejoined the organization. This made Lieutenant Motley breathe a sigh of relief.

There were only about ten people just now, and Lieutenant Motley was really afraid of the enemy's attack. With such a small number of people, he was afraid that the enemy could defeat them with a single charge.

The gunfire and shouts coming from the direction of the secondary fort were so dense that veterans like Lieutenant Motley knew that their soldiers were being beaten back.

Lieutenant Motley was particularly impressed by the two or three soldiers who had just retreated. Their frightened expressions when they retreated from the front line left a deep impression on them.

They are all professional regular soldiers of the Ministan Army!
Lieutenant Motley immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Alright, we've repelled the enemy. Soldiers, quickly move the barricades up and block the road!"

Lieutenant Motley ordered his soldiers to go up the stairs to the passage on the city wall and move out the wooden barricades placed in the armory at the city gate.

The city gate area where Lieutenant Motley was stationed was relatively spacious compared to other places.

When building the castle, the designer may have taken into consideration the needs of transportation. The passages in other places were only wide enough to accommodate one carriage, but here they became wide avenues that could accommodate two carriages.

Lieutenant Motley had never thought there was anything wrong with such spaciousness until now, when the enemy rushed in from the drawbridge of the secondary fort and was about to launch an attack here.

Lieutenant Motley just felt that such a spacious space was really unnecessary.

If the passage is still only wide enough for one carriage to pass through, Lieutenant Motley only needs to send out two or three spearmen and a chevaux de frise to block the passage tightly, making it difficult for the enemy to pass through.

In order to block the passage now, two barricades must be moved in, and five to six soldiers must stand in the front line. At least four reserves must be left in the rear to be able to withstand the enemy's desperate attack.

This is too bad.

In addition, Lieutenant Motley also hated the corruption and laziness of the Bagnians. Originally, there was a copper-nailed gate at the end of the passage in the city gate area, but after Lieutenant Motley took over the defense area, he was forced to take his men to tear it down.

It has to be demolished. The inside of the gate is rotten and decayed. You can dig a hole in it with your hands. If you don't demolish it, it might fall down by itself.

In order to prevent people from being injured, it is better to dismantle it.

Looking at the passage, Lieutenant Motley pondered for a moment, then waved and shouted to a middle-aged sergeant.

"Okafor, take your first squad down and block the passage. Second squad will go up the left wall, and third squad will follow me."

"Lieutenant, what about our back?"

The sergeant with the impressive sausage lips turned around and pointed to the other side.

The passage at the city gate is T-shaped, with one side leading to the secondary fort and the other side going deep into the main fort, where are the soldiers' accommodation and kitchen areas, as well as the direction of the main arsenal.

In addition to the two passages, there are two stone spiral staircases leading to the upper floors of the castle in the city gate area.

Lieutenant Motley counted carefully and found that there were quite a few things he needed to pay attention to.

Do we need to divide our forces?

"Don't worry about it. There will be other people stationed in other places. There are only two places we need to defend. One is the secondary fort passage, and the other is outside the city gate."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant Motley saw an officer wearing plate armor, a high-crowned helmet, and a short cloak tied behind his back, running towards him from the other side of the city gate with his men.

Their orderly footsteps were echoed by the ceiling of the city gate area, making the place seem extremely noisy.

The leading officer looked up at the city gate and saw Lieutenant Motley on the left wall. The white goose feathers on his helmet were very obvious.

"Report, Lieutenant Motley, the colonel has ordered us to come and support the city gate."

"Great."

Lieutenant Motley shouted to the young second lieutenant below who was not qualified to wear feathers on his helmet.

"How many people are you bringing?"

"Twenty men, all of them crossbowmen, armed with Kalay crossbows and rapiers."

"Sword?"

Lieutenant Motley lowered his eyes and glanced at the waists of the second lieutenant and the soldier behind him. There was indeed a rapier hanging there.

"Why don't you use long swords?"

"The soldiers who retreated ahead reported that the enemy was equipped with heavy armor that even smoothbore muskets had difficulty penetrating. Therefore, the sergeant major in the armory issued us rapiers."

The lieutenant answered honestly.

Lieutenant Motley wanted to curse, but looking at the innocent face of the second lieutenant, he held it back, only his facial muscles inevitably twitched twice.

"Forget it... Throw away the fire sticks on your waists, then go to the guard room to get the short spears and long swords, and then climb the wall. Your crossbows will come in handy."

"Yes, sir."

The second lieutenant, who had just left the military academy, didn't quite understand the lieutenant's order, but he didn't question his superiors and obediently led the crossbowmen to replace their weapons.

Lieutenant Motley sighed. He suspected that the sergeant major of the armory had a grudge against this guy, otherwise he would not have equipped the latter with a rapier.

This thing is theoretically an armor-piercing weapon. However, on the battlefield, almost no one knows how to use it except for some veterans and officers who are proficient in swordsmanship.

The reason is simple. The requirements of the rapier on the user and its material are too high. Even if a swordsman needs a rapier, he will spend a lot of money to find a skilled blacksmith to make it for him, rather than equipping the army with common products.

The rapier's use requirements are so demanding, making it unsuitable for large-scale military equipment. So why is it appearing here on such a large scale? For this question, you'll have to ask the procurement personnel. Before the second lieutenant and his soldiers could finish arming themselves, the soldier who had been staring at the end of the secondary fort's passageway shouted loudly.

"enemy……"

"boom!"

Before the sentry could finish his words, his warning was abruptly stopped by the sound of gunfire.

Lieutenant Motley turned around suddenly and saw the sentry fall down and lie prone on the parapet.

He drew his pistol, walked quickly to the edge of the parapet, and leaned over to look at the end of the passage. He saw several clay pots being thrown over. When they fell and broke in the middle of the passage, the burning materials inside also spewed out large clouds of yellow smoke.

At the same time, several enemies wearing black cloaks and iron masks appeared and disappeared in the smoke, running quickly with shields held high in their hands.

Looking at the styles of the shields and the patterns on their surfaces, Lieutenant Motley knew that the original owners of those shields were all Minisians.

"Cough cough cough..."

During the observation process, Lieutenant Motley accidentally inhaled a puff of smoke. He immediately felt his throat itchy, coughed subconsciously, and his eyes began to tear.

This smoke is strange, it's a bit spicy, and after inhaling a little, it makes people's noses run and tears come out.

"Cough cough cough... Damn it... Shoot... Stop them... cough cough cough..."

Lieutenant Motley took the time to give orders while coughing. The soldiers on both sides of the passage wall received the order, stood up, raised their long-range weapons and fired downwards.

These soldiers were also affected by the smoke and were coughing and crying uncontrollably.

Once a person coughs or sheds tears, no matter whether they are using a matchlock gun or a crossbow, the accuracy will be affected. The arrows shot from the bow will become weak and powerless, and the accuracy of the crossbow and musket will shake from side to side.

Amid the rain of arrows and lead bullets, only two of the five men in black who rushed out staggered and fell to the ground. The other three successfully rushed to the edge of the barricades, dropped their shields, and tried to move them away.

Seeing the success of their companions in front, more smoke canisters were thrown out at the end of the passage. At the same time, more men in black rushed over and the sound of flintlock gunfire rang out.

Lead bullets whizzed against the parapet, brick and stone fragments flew everywhere, and the Minisians on the wall were suppressed for two breaths.

At this time, Sergeant Okafor led his men forward and tried to attack and stop these people's behavior.

Then Lieutenant Motley saw one of the three men take out an iron ball and the other raised the torch in his hand.

Sergeant Ozark cried out in fear, and the soldiers behind him turned and ran.

"Damn madman!"

Lieutenant Motley saw this and he also raised his pistol and fired at the enemy holding the iron ball, but unfortunately due to the smoke, the shot missed.

Lieutenant Motley cursed, suppressing the physiological reaction caused by the smoke. He drew his sword and rushed down the stairs to stop the enemy grenadiers.

The two soldiers saw what the lieutenant was doing, so they dropped their muskets, drew their swords and followed.

The grenade in the enemy's hand was finally thrown out, and it hit Sergeant Ozark like a lead ball.

Sergeant Ozark, who used to be a mercenary, was very brave. He stretched out his hand and tried to catch the two-pound black iron ball. Unfortunately, this deadly black thing did not give him any chance at all and exploded in mid-air.

With a loud explosion and the crackling sound of ceramic shrapnel hitting the wall, Sergeant Ozark and the enemy who threw the grenade fell backwards with their heads raised almost at the same time.

Even Lieutenant Motley, who was nearly ten meters away from the explosion site, felt something hit his breastplate with a loud "clang" sound.

Although he was still coughing and having a runny nose, at this moment, the frightened Lieutenant Motley couldn't help but curse.

"Damn madman!"

Despite cursing, Lieutenant Motley did not stop. He continued to rush down the stairs and soon arrived at the bottom before the enemy moved the barricades away. He raised his sword and slashed at the man in black behind the barricades.

The two veterans following Lieutenant Motley did the same thing. With three swords slashing randomly, they successfully forced the man in black back two steps.

Then, Lieutenant Motley saw the black muzzle of a gun pointed at him from behind the man in black.

They were three enemy musketeers who had rushed to the front line despite the fire from the walls on both sides.

Lieutenant Motley didn't have time to curse. He subconsciously bent down and hid behind the barricades. Then gunshots were heard in front of him, and the two veterans following the lieutenant fell to the ground without a word.

The next second after the gunshots rang out, several crossbow arrows whizzed from behind Lieutenant Motley and landed on the men in black and their surroundings.

"Lieutenant, we're here... cough cough cough..."

Lieutenant Motley, who remained bent over, looked back and saw the second lieutenant and his crossbowmen who had come to support him not long ago.

"Great, come over here and block the intersection!"

Lieutenant Motley waved to them happily, and the second lieutenant did as he wished and trotted over with his men.

Well done, you are worthy of being a warrior of the kingdom!

Lieutenant Motley praised in his heart, but unfortunately, just as he finished praising the lieutenant and the crossbowmen in his heart, the next second, the lieutenant saw the fear on their faces, and they braked suddenly and turned around.

Lieutenant Motley's eyes widened as he realized something. He looked back and saw through the gap inside the chevaux de frise that there was a cannon placed between two men in black, and someone else was holding a shield to block the cannon and resist the crossbow arrows.

Although the gun was a little small, Lieutenant Motley recognized that it was a gun!

This was also the main reason why the lieutenant and the crossbowmen turned around and fled.

"Oh, damn it!"

Lieutenant Motley cursed desperately, and it was unclear whether he was cursing the enemy or the subordinates on both sides of the wall who were not doing their duty.

After cursing, Lieutenant Motley lay down on the ground, hid behind the barricades, and then chanted the name of Poseidon in his heart, praying that the sea god could protect him.

The next second, the roar of artillery sounded in the passage.

Lieutenant Motley, lying on the ground with his eyes closed and his hands covering his face, heard the wooden creaking and crackling of the chevaux de frise above his head, and something fell on his back, hitting his breastplate with a clanging sound.

In the direction of the feet, there were many people screaming and wailing.

(End of this chapter)