kingnovel Chapter 167 Day of Judgment
Chapter 167 Day of Judgment
Under the gloomy sky, a sinister castle stood on a hill, surrounded by black twisted trees, as if it wanted to swallow up other passers-by in the woods.
In a window of the city wall, two people carrying buckets poured some leftovers out of the window to the outside of the city. Among these leftovers, in addition to the vegetable leaves and soup, some bones were poured out and scattered outside the city.
Under the city wall, some rats were chewing on leftovers, which might have become their only food source in this barren land. However, among these leftovers, a human skull suddenly appeared. In the eye socket of the skull, a fat rat came out from it, as if it had already made its home here.
In the hall of the castle, a pale-faced, black-haired man in casual clothes was enjoying his dinner at a long table, while a bandit beside him was reporting to him what happened this morning.
The man was seen holding a knife and fork and cutting a piece of unknown meat into small pieces. He then gracefully put the pieces of meat into his mouth with sharp teeth, chewed them for a few times, and swallowed them with a movement in his throat.
The bandit leader, who was enjoying the food, stared at the bandit who had just reported to him with his cat-like eyes and asked:
"Hiss... So, this person has not been caught yet?"
"What we have now is that someone witnessed the city lord taking the cavalry out, but he has not returned." The robber responded.
Hearing this, the bandit leader seemed to have lost his appetite, and left his seat and walked to the side, where a suit of armor was sitting there. In addition to the gorgeous and exquisite workmanship of the armor, what was even more eye-catching was its huge cobra helmet with fangs exposed.
"Order the knights to get ready." The bandit leader ordered the bandits.
"Sir, do you want to take any more prisoners this time?" The robbers were no longer surprised by the man's orders. Every time the knights went out, a town or village would be wiped off the map.
However, this is also the biggest carnival party for those bandits. At this time, they can take what they want unscrupulously and massacre the people who are crying in the flames. In their view, this land and the people living on the land have survived to this day just to allow them to squander without scruples, and their lives can naturally be taken away at will.
"This time I'm not after money or slaves." The bandit leader looked at the bandits and said with a grin, showing his fangs.
"What I want more is the people and buildings covered in flames, and the sound of horses' hooves crushing human bones."
However, just as he was about to touch the armor, a thunderous sound resounded throughout the hall. The hall continued to shake, causing dust on the beams to fall to the floor.
"Sir, something is wrong!"
Just as the bandit leader was still wondering what was going on, a bandit ran in hurriedly, stopped a few meters away from the man and said in panic:
"The castle is surrounded by a group of people, at least several thousand people, and they have several cannons bombarding. The wall is about to collapse!"
“Thousands of people!”
The bandit leader totally disdained such remarks. In his opinion, the old man was just a miser. He would definitely not do such a thing as hiring thousands of mercenaries which would dig up his wealth in disguise. Besides, which mercenary group would have such a large number of troops?
"Pass on my order and have the knights gather at the city gate. Then we will charge in all at once and trample those ungrateful people into pulp!"
Outside the city, looking at the city wall that was about to be destroyed by the bombardment, Captain Paying and several Black Watch mercenary officers were planning the next siege.
Due to information from multiple channels before this, Captain Paying had already determined that the bandit leader was most likely an apostle, so he asked Charles in Saint-Remy to borrow reinforcements. Charles also generously supported Captain Paying with two thousand-man teams and several artillery pieces. Although John's gunpowder army returned to the territory after the indigenous war, Charles still purchased several artillery pieces produced in Midland through his own channels. Although the efficiency and variety were far inferior to the artillery produced in the Forest Territory, they were still enough for their mercenaries.
"It seems that the enemy is not showing any signs of counterattack or attack at the moment, but to be on the safe side, we should put the musketeers in the front to deal with any possible breakout at any time." Captain Pa Ying said to the other mercenary officers.
"Is it because we are firing too hard that the enemy can't come out? Why don't we stop shelling and wait for them to come out before we attack them?" suggested a mercenary officer.
"Then stop the shelling after the city wall is destroyed. At the same time, send the musketeers to both sides of the artillery position, and the infantry to support the rear. They will follow my command then." Regimental Commander Pa Ying followed the officers' advice. These officers had participated in more siege battles than he did and certainly had more experience than him. Another point was that there had been no reconnaissance before this operation, and the number of artillery shells they carried was almost insufficient.
"boom!!!"
The continuous bombardment had already overwhelmed the city wall. After the last bombardment, cracks spread on the bombarded side of the wall and eventually collapsed into ruins with dust.
"Stop the shelling!"
Looking at the flag bearer at the main position waving the flag representing the artillery, the artillery commander put down the telescope and spoke to his artillerymen.
The bandits in the city had realized as early as the first bombardment that the attackers were not as spineless as usual. Some bandits even thought that the king had known about their situation and that the army outside was sent by the king.
The bandits became more convinced of this rumor as the bombardment continued, and they no longer had the courage to fight the other side. After all, they usually bullied ordinary people, so they were even more afraid when facing an army that was born to kill people.
The armored bandit leader and his knights stood not far from the city wall, listening to the loud noise caused by the artillery fire and the shaking city walls. Many knights' horses were startled by the loud noise and began to shake their heads and step on the spot uncontrollably. The knights took a lot of effort to calm the horses.
The bandit leader saw all of this, and he finally knew that the bandit who had just reported the news was not talking nonsense. Few lords would buy artillery except for the regular army. After all, this place is far from the front line, and the wars between lords are just small fights. They don't need or dare to use such a big thing that costs a lot of money. If it is really a regular army, then it is possible to send thousands of people.
"Damn it, when did this old man inform the king?" The bandit leader looked at the city wall that was about to collapse and regretted not killing the old guy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state now.
After the city wall collapsed, the bandit leader saw the opposing army with his excellent eyesight. However, he was puzzled that the clothing of these troops was nothing like the Midland army, and he only recognized one of the flags, which was from the French King's Hall.
"Why are the troops from the French King's Office here?" The bandit leader was puzzled but still ordered:
"Everyone, disperse!"
However, as time passed, the bandit leader discovered that the opposing army did not continue the bombardment, but fell into a dead silence.
"Don't they have any shells?" Although the bandit leader wanted to break out right now, he was calm and did not do so. Who knows if these Midland people had any backup plans.
Suddenly he came up with an idea and shouted to the robbers next to him:
"Those Midlanders are out of shells. Let's rush out now and fight them!"
Although the bandits did not believe what the leader said at this time, when they saw the silent army on the opposite side and the gloomy face of the leader, they knew that if they did not go, they might be killed by the leader, so they rushed towards the opposite army with shouting.
Seeing the bandits emerging from the gap, the mercenary officer asked Captain Pa Ying:
"Master, shall we fire now?"
Captain Pa Ying carefully observed the bandits on the opposite side with a telescope. He keenly sensed a hint of conspiracy. It seemed that these charging bandits did not have anyone who could lead them. They were pushed to his side like a duck to the tree.
"Don't let the artillery fire yet. Order the crossbowmen and musketeers to shoot at these bandits." To be cautious, Captain Pa Ying chose to use the crossbowmen and musketeers with a faster shooting rate to test the opponent's next move.
After receiving the order, the flag bearers waved their flags, and the crossbowmen and musketeers who had been prepared long ago pulled the trigger at the bandits on the opposite side under their respective commanders' orders. In a moment, arrows and lead bullets shot at the bandits from all directions. The bandits who rushed to the front were either hit by arrows or shot into sieves by lead bullets, and fell to the ground with wailing.
The bandits were stimulated by the corpses and blood of their accomplices, and with no one to supervise them, their psychological defenses were completely broken, and they immediately fled in all directions. The bandit leader in the distance was also observing the battlefield. He found that the opposing army was equipped with a strange handheld long-barreled weapon. As long as smoke appeared, the bandits on his side would be knocked down, just like a small artillery.
However, he could no longer think about the principle of using this weapon, because he found that the cannons had never been fired from the beginning to the end. Seeing that the time had come, the bandit leader shouted to the hundreds of knights behind him:
"Brothers, you are all my most elite soldiers. Whether you can enjoy this land in the future depends on today! Follow me and kill everyone outside!"
It has to be said that with the bandit leader's operations over the years, all kinds of strong and skilled scum have gathered around him. These scum also know that if they surrender or escape, they will be directly judged by those people for their actions over the years after being caught. Even if they escape by chance, unless they flee abroad, they will be hunted down by the army and bounty hunters for the rest of their lives.
As the bandit leader charged forward with his giant axe, the knights behind him followed him and charged towards the opposite artillery position.
When Captain Pa Ying on the other side saw the cavalry rushing out from the breach in the city wall, he immediately ordered:
"Artillery, fire!"
The artillerymen who received the news immediately lit the fuse of the artillery. With a loud roar like thunder and a burst of thick white smoke, the high-speed rotating shells collided violently with the cavalry rushing from the opposite side. The first to be hit was the bandit leader in the front. A shell hit the opposite side's chest straight. The powerful impact force directly carried the bandit leader into the city wall.
"The leader is dead!"
Some of the bandit knights who had managed to survive lost all will to fight when they saw their leader being blown away by a cannonball, and they all fled in all directions.
Taking advantage of this good opportunity, when the officers were about to order a pursuit of the fleeing soldiers, they were immediately stopped by Captain Pa Ying standing nearby.
Captain Pa Ying certainly knew that these apostles must have more capabilities than this. The cannonball just now confirmed his idea. If an ordinary person was hit by a cannonball, his body would have been smashed into pieces, but the bandit leader was just knocked away. This made him even more certain that the leader must be an apostle.
At this moment, with a roar from within the city wall, a huge creature slowly walked out from inside, accompanied by a lizard-like claw extending from the smoke, and the bandit leader turned into a monster like a hybrid of a snake and a man.
Its skin was covered with scales all over its body, and a long and powerful tail behind it was beating the ground, making noises. Its limbs had also turned into claws like those of reptiles, but in order to stand, the claws at the back had become shaped like human feet.
However, based on these, we can only say that it is a large lizard. What can really confirm its identity is its cobra-like head. In the middle of its head, its face is grinning at the people in front of it:
"Anyone who comes under this body of mine will become my food!"
Looking at the monster in front of him that looked like a villain in a play, Captain Payen recorded its features and said to the surrounding Crusaders:
"It looks like we have another tough battle to fight."