Heart of the Castle

Chapter 274 Lidwan's wishful thinking
When the first ray of morning light shone on the top of the main tower of the Green Castle, this ancient castle finally seemed to wake up, and began to glow with a little vitality.A guard on duty at night walked out of the watchtower, stretched his stiff limbs on the city wall, and faced the refreshing morning breeze with a slightly tired face, which immediately lifted his spirits.

However, as soon as he showed a relaxed expression, he was stunned by the scenery outside the castle. His face turned pale and his mouth was opened wide, but no sound came out from inside.It wasn't until nearly a minute later that the guard uttered a cry that could only be described as miserable.

"Big army, big army! Master Li Wei's army is coming to attack here!"

While shouting, the guard rushed into the small watchtower where he was on duty, and then a rapid alarm bell sounded from above the watchtower.

The guards of the Green Castle heard the alarm and immediately rushed to the city wall. They were all elite fighters who had experienced the baptism of evil disasters, but when they saw the scene outside the city, they couldn't help being terrified.

On the plain facing the Green Castle, a continuous movable roof has appeared. Although this temporary protective tool made of thick planks is rough, it is strong enough to withstand the bows and arrows shot from the top of the city.Under the movable roof are rows of heavy oak shields, and the iron nails on the shields reflect the morning light, making them look exceptionally bright.Beside these heavy infantry were militiamen wearing light leather armor. Since they were attacking a strong castle, they did not hold spears, but held movable roof brackets made of strong wooden sticks.Behind them are the archers. They are scattered behind the infantry like dark clouds before a storm. Among them is a tall and thin archer wrapped in a green cloak, who is holding a silver fir longbow towards the city. He gestured with his head, as if he was measuring something.

The general reserve of the siege force was a group of fully armed cavalry, more than 30 of them, led by three burly knights in heavy full-body armor, many banners with family crests fluttering in the wind, and the guards saw that some of them were The iron fist banner of the high-ranking knight Draconic, the one-eyed tiger banner of the high-ranking knight Dickway, and the blood-stained longsword banner of the wind dancer Golei Joy.And on top of all the flags, there are two unfamiliar flags flying, one is a khaki roaring bear head, the other is higher, on top of the bear head flag, it is a red and white background color, A flag of a golden beast was embroidered on it, and when the wind blew the flag, the golden beast on it spread its wings and soared opposite the Green Castle.

A knight with a green fortress badge on his shoulder hurried up the city wall, looked outside, frowned, and couldn't help but blurted out in a surprised voice: "Griffin banner! Benevolent Father God, could it be Li? Is Master Wei coming to attack us in person?"

This sentence immediately caused a small commotion around him.Almost all of the Greencastle guards had heard of Li Wei's name before. As the party against Li Wei, the hero who ended the disaster, this made their low morale even lower.

Several other knights appeared on the city wall. These people were all vassal knights of the Lord of Greencastle, and they had been serving Lord Ridwan's family since their ancestors.They are closely related to Sir Lidwan's honor, and their loyalty is beyond doubt. However, when facing the crusade army gathered under the banner of the Griffin, these people still had shaken expressions on their faces. Some doubts about the decision.

"Hey, you brave knights, are you all scared of the mob outside the city?" A mocking voice sounded from behind the vassal knights, which made their faces suddenly show anger, Turning around to look, they all had to lower their heads and bowed to the few people who had just walked up the city wall from the stairs.

Among those people was Sir Lidwan in full armor. Perhaps due to inner pressure, the lord of the Greencastle became much more reticent compared to half a month ago.Surrounding him were a group of knights in gray and black armor. None of these knights had any badges showing their families or forces they belonged to. It makes people feel mysterious and weird.

It was one of these knights who spoke ironically, and the only one who didn't wear a helmet. That face looked very young, with a smile on his mouth, and his temperament was stronger than the rest of the black armored knights. Much milder.

However, the vassal knights didn't feel this way. After bowing to Sir Lidwan, they straightened up and glared at the young knight.One of the middle-aged knights with a big beard was impatient and couldn't help but said, "You're easy to say, rabble? The troops outside the city far exceed the Greencastle defenders in terms of quantity and quality."

"It's just some trained bumpkins. As evidenced by the name of Ku Ximu, the Eternal Sleeping Instructor, one knight riding a horse can deal with twenty of them." The young knight said disdainfully.

"It's all you guys who hide their heads and show their tails. They tricked you into breaking your oath..." Before the middle-aged knight could finish his sentence, he was pulled by the arm of an older knight next to him, and then saw those black-armored knights Pressing the hilt of the sword together with killing intent in their eyes, they couldn't help but shut their mouths.

Sir Lidwan had never expressed any attitude towards the conflict between the vassal knights and the black armored knights. At this moment, he suddenly took two steps forward and came to the crenel of the city wall to look out.The black armored knights crowded around him, squeezing those loyal vassal knights to the periphery.

This approach immediately made the faces of the vassal knights even more angry, especially the irritable middle-aged knight, whose hair stood up in anger, and trembling hands grabbed the hilt of the sword.

The old knight stretched out his hand to stop him. The middle-aged knight suppressed his anger and said in a low voice: "Knight Copman, this is a shame, do you still ask us to be patient? Or are you worried that I won't be able to win the duel? If you have to If the choice is the same between life and honor, I would rather go to the grave with my head held high."

"Karmo, now my lord needs the strength of these people, we can't make things difficult for my lord." The old knight named Copman gritted his teeth and said: "When the Crusade Army is defeated, if we and them are still alive, I will I'll let you see if I'm afraid of death!"

Although the voices of these vassal knights were not loud, Sir Lidwan and the black-armored knights around him could obviously hear them, but none of them responded, including the interest that should have appeased the loyal vassal knights. Sir Dewan included, and there was no expression on his rigid face that seemed to be made of steel.

The troops on the opposite side of the Green Castle are slowly deploying and adjusting their formation. It seems that it is not long before the time to launch an attack.Sir Lydwan spoke slowly, every word seemed to be carefully considered, and the speed of his speech was astonishingly slow.

"Kopman, how many soldiers are there in the castle now?"

The veteran knight bowed slightly, and said in a respectful tone: "Fifty soldiers, all of whom have been trained and can use bows and arrows proficiently. My lord, if we send all the cavalry to defend the city, we can add 50 more infantry."

"That's enough, Copman, give you the eastern wall, take 30 archers and 10 dismounted cavalry, and notice that the wall has collapsed in two places; Carmo, give you the rest of the soldiers. the city wall; as for the city gate, I will defend it myself."

"But my lord, if this is the case, you won't have any soldiers under your command?"

"The rest of the Templars are worth one." The young black-armored knight said, "There will be no problem with the guards here at the city gate."

These almost provocative words made Knight Copman's brows twitch. He nodded silently, and then said to Sir Lidwan: "My lord, our manpower is only one-third of the crusade army, and there is no way to replenish it. It's going to be a tough fight."

"We don't need to defend for a long time, because by this afternoon at the latest, the armies of the surrounding lords will come to help us." Sir Lidwan's answer made all the vassal knights' faces change drastically, and Cavalier Carmo even blurted out screamed.

"The surrounding lords? My lord, don't you have a fever?"

"It's easy to let those people in, but it's hard to send them away. My lord, you have to think carefully." Knight Copman also looked very disapproving.

"I've naturally thought about this point. Now, if you still think you are the courtiers of Green Castle, please act according to your orders!" Sir Lidwan's tone was a little cold, and Copman and Carmo looked at each other Looking at each other, they both saw deep worry and vague dissatisfaction in each other's eyes.However, their loyalty to Lord Ridwan finally defeated the same feelings. They bowed deeply with several other vassal knights, and then walked under the city wall.As he walked, he shouted orders.

The upper and lower walls of Greencastle suddenly fell into chaos and busyness. Guards holding longbows and dismounted cavalry wearing half-length armor ran around like headless chickens, and their morale was very low. With a sad expression.

Seeing this scene, Sir Lidwan frowned, stepped on the crenel, leaned out and shouted below.

"Hey, cheer up! Go over there and heat up the oil! Prepare the asphalt balls and let those knights taste the taste of fire and smoke! Don't be frightened by Levi's name, those people also It will hurt or die! The archers are all ready, and there are enough arrows in every shack, as long as there is enough dense arrow rain, they will never even try to pass through the swamp in front of the city wall!"

Sir Lidwan's prestige played a role in stabilizing the morale of the army at this moment. The chaos below the city wall improved a little bit. Although many soldiers still had expressions of panic on their faces, they finally obeyed the order and began to prepare for defense.The archers climbed to the top of the city and hid their bodies behind wooden bunkers; bundles of arrows and asphalt balls were carried up the city wall and stacked in a place where they could be easily accessed.

Sir Lidwan turned his head and continued to watch closely the movements of the besieging troops. His eyes gradually turned from coldness at the beginning to dignified, and finally became fearful.

"Damn it, even though Wilps is not here, the ability of the person in command of the troops is not that bad!" The lord of Greencastle, who has always been known for his scheming, looked down worriedly, "This battle is not easy to fight. Or..." Sir Lydwan's voice turned into a muttering to himself, and then a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.

"Master Ridwan!" The young black-armored knight standing beside him suddenly shouted sharply.Sir Ridwan's body froze, and then the confusion in his eyes faded away, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife's edge again.

The sound of whining horns came from the opposite side, and all the archers took out a curved horn from their waists and put it on their mouths to blow it. The sound was low and long, with a chilling chill.With the blowing of the horn, the three banners headed by the roaring bear slowly moved forward, joining the line of defense formed by the movable roof and shields.

Immediately afterwards, the defense line began to move forward. From a distance, it looked like a huge long snake, pushing forward and horizontally.The orderly and heavy footsteps of hundreds of people joined together, as if every step was on the heart of the castle defenders.

On the left and right sides of the city gate, high-pitched and loud bronze horns sounded at the same time, as if responding to the provocation of the besieging troops.Immediately afterwards, the air was filled with the hissing sound of breaking wind, and the first wave of arrow rain splashed in the air. With the addition of the height of the city wall, some of these arrows flew over a distance of more than 100 meters and landed on the sturdy wooden planks of the movable roof. Above, most of them exhausted their strength halfway, and had no choice but to fall into the swamp.

"Hmph, coward." The young black-armored knight beside Sir Lidwan made a sound between a sneer and a grunt. In his opinion, the timing of this wave of arrows is not good. If you can wait until the siege If the troops advance to about 70 meters and then shoot, no matter how tight the protection of the movable roof and shield is, it can still cause some casualties.

However, Sir Lidwan shook his head and explained in a low voice: "Brother Ace Pross, don't use the bravery of your brothers in the Dormition Temple to measure the ordinary soldiers of Greencastle, that would be too harsh. If you let these If people rush to within 70 meters without hindrance, most of the defenders' courage will fall to the bottom."

Before Sir Lydwan could finish his words, the second wave of arrows rained down from the sky, and the archers at the top of the city drew out their third arrows one after another.

Compared with the previous wave, the second wave of arrow rain was slightly more accurate, but it still failed to cause damage to the besiegers who were a hundred steps away.What surprised Sir Lidwan was that the archers who were blowing their horns suddenly put away their horns, bent forward and ran forward, taking out arrows and putting them on their longbows.

"Who is the commander of these archers outside the city? This is simply a joke!" Carmo Knight's surprised voice came from the west of the city.He has been the captain of bows and arrows in Greencastle for a long time, and he is very familiar with the range of various bows. Generally, the hunting bows used by bumpkins and hunters have an effective range of about 30 meters on flat ground, and it is difficult to cause damage any farther away. The military longbow used by regular sergeants has an effective range of about 80 to 100 meters on flat ground.Due to the enhanced range of the Green Castle's towering walls, the defenders can now shoot arrows at the attacking troops 100 meters away, but both the accuracy and strength have reached their limits, even if the attacking troops do not have movable ceilings and arrows. The double protection of the shield will not be hit hard by it.

As for shooting at the top of the city from below at a distance of 100 meters, this approach is simply ridiculous. Even the best bows and arrows paired with the best archers would never want to do this.

A ray of silver light passed by the ear of Carmo Knight, and the wind-piercing sound it brought was poured into his ears even a little later.The sound of cracking planks and a scream almost sounded from behind Cavalier Carmo in no particular order.The face of the captain of the Greencastle Bow and Arrow suddenly became pale and pale. He looked back with a stiff neck, and his neck bone made a creaking sound like a dwarf machine short of oil.

There were originally two wooden archer bunkers behind him, but now only the left one remains. The roof of the right bunker was torn apart by a terrible force, and the archer inside had a fist-sized blood on his chest. Dong, who had lost his life, his distorted face told how much he suffered before he died.

The silver light didn't end here, but after penetrating the roof of the bunker and the archers inside, it flew out from the other end and nailed to the crenel on the other side of the city wall.Cavalier Carmo walked over quickly, holding the silver arrow shaft deeply pierced into the chlorite with slightly trembling hands. He thought it would be difficult to pull out, but when he pulled it out forcefully, it was easy Made him almost lose his balance.

It was a special long arrow made of silver fir as the shaft and a strange silver metal as the arrowhead. The triangular armor-piercing arrowhead was exceptionally sharp, pierced into the middle of the hard chlorite, and there was not even a trace of a bump. not come out.Carmo used his grudge to protect his finger and twisted it on the arrow. He didn't remember how much effort he used, but his finger hurt slightly, and then bright red blood dripped out.

"God of War Balud... what is this thing! It can't even resist fighting spirit!" Carmo had reason to be shocked, because soon another silver light flew, this time it was a place on the west wall The archer's bunker was torn apart, and then a third ray of silver light flew towards the east, knocking half of the bunker on Carmo's left.

This time the archer in the bunker was luckier, or he was lying on the ground with a lower posture, and he didn't suffer any damage except for the falling wooden plank hitting his head.Before Carmo went to check, the archer had already dropped the weapon in his hand, put his hands on his head, and escaped desperately, with the sound of howling ghosts and wolves.

"Stop, run away, do you want to die?"

Carmo roared angrily, but his majesty was still a bit weaker than the horror of death. The deserter just flinched, and ran towards the side passage next to the city gate without stopping.

The young black-armored knight glanced in this direction, and seemed to whisper something in Sir Ridwan's ear. Ser Ridwan pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.One of the several black-armored knights clustered around the Jazz stepped quickly towards the deserter, holding his sword hilt, and stopped him before he could escape down the side passage.

A sense of ominous premonition suddenly rose in Cavalier Carmo's heart, "Stop!" The archer captain yelled sharply, but in the next moment, a fountain of blood rose into the sky, choking the second half of his words in his throat.

The deserter's head spun and fell to the top of the city. The headless corpse still stood there for a few seconds before slumping to the ground. Blood dripped down, staining a large area of ​​the ground.The black-armored knight swung the blood-stained sword, then put it back into the scabbard, turned around and walked away, not even looking at the trembling knight Carmo.

(End of this chapter)