our family is gone

Chapter 768 The Generous Baron

"Humph! Does he think he can stop us?"

The commander didn't waste any time and signaled the team to speed up, and there was no need to conserve energy for the remaining few steps.

The team advanced faster, and among them, the twenty cannons gradually entered the field, pulled by horses, and were deployed to point at the front of the wall.

"I'll say it one last time. The Lord is merciful and does not want to cause any killing. If you surrender now, you can save your life. Otherwise, the bullets will not have eyes!"

"Get your lord out! This is my territory, you are the invaders!"

The knight naturally did not want to retreat at all, because after getting closer, he found that most of the soldiers were not wearing armor and it was difficult to protect themselves from arrows.

If you dare to come over, our archers will shoot you from above. If you want to break in, we must make sure that this area is covered with your corpses.

It's just that he shouldn't mention someone, because Hamlet's soldiers couldn't accept his attitude towards their lord at all.

"Damn it! Pull the cannon up and fire!"

"fire!"

The commander's roar was heard, followed by the gunner's shouting, and then the artillery roared, and puffs of white smoke rose up and condensed into clouds above the position, refusing to dissipate.

This scene frightened those people, even the knights quickly retreated back under the wall.

But the interesting thing is that the artillery was not aimed at the wall or the gate, but at the wooden arrow tower.

The wood was unable to withstand the bombardment of the shells. A round of twenty shells knocked it down, and the archers on it fell down as well.

This was still considered lucky. One of the shots hit the target too high and directly hit the platform, penetrating the wooden boards of the fence and blasting countless wood chips into the archer, causing him to wail.

Not to mention that the bullet went through and directly made a hole in the human body, and even half of the body was torn apart easily, so he couldn't even scream.

The roar of artillery... the loud noise of collapse... the wailing and screaming one after another, this is the cruel battlefield.

The knights could see this scene, and so could the soldiers. They had low morale to begin with, after all, that was your territory, not mine.

He was still standing here only relying on the reward money and the pressure from the knight, but now he was completely stunned.

But the other side didn't care about their reactions. When the knight denied the lord, the conflict between the two sides was irreconcilable. After taking the commanding heights, the team immediately moved forward.

Hamlet is currently equipped with light artillery, also known as field artillery, which shows what it specializes in. It does not have enough attack capabilities, and even the stone wall in front of it will be troublesome.

You have to use iron bullets to get close to it and hit it in order to knock it down, but the wooden arrow tower is much easier and can be destroyed by using stone bullets.

After approaching a hundred yards, the most prominent items in the team were several mortars. They were not as exaggerated as artillery, but they were good tools for dealing with walls and trenches like this.

The mortar can only fire at a range of about a hundred yards at most, so we have to destroy the arrow tower first.

This thing is easier to operate than a cannon, but it's harder to aim because the parabolic trajectory requires calculating the position of the falling bullet, so the best gunners are on this.

Fortunately, these artillerymen have been trained and have standard references, so they only need to get a few data to get the answer.

But Bonaparte didn't need all these. He just took a look and the answer came to his mind. He first completed the aiming and fired a shot.

The bomb with the ignited fuse drew a parabola in the sky, bypassed the wall, and landed precisely behind it, where it exploded.

"Rumble..."

Although the successive explosions were not as accurate as Bonaparte's, they also covered that area, continuing to kill the enemy's manpower and making them dare not show their heads to counterattack.

Then the cannon, which had just been loaded for the second time, fired again, and this time it hit the gate directly. The barricades blocking the front were instantly torn into pieces and scattered all over the ground.

After the artillery, the infantry pressed forward. At this time, there were also mortars firing bombs. How could ordinary soldiers dare to do this?

Infantry and artillery coordination, even the wealthy Totnes can't afford soldiers of this quality...

However, the knight and the team that had been assembled with great effort suffered a lot.

Bonaparte aimed his first shot at the knight, but the knight was no fool. Although he was not familiar with artillery, he did not think he could resist after seeing the fate of the arrow tower.

So when he saw the bomb falling towards him from the sky, he turned around and ran without hesitation. This was because the trajectory of the mortar was obvious. If it was a cannon, there would be no time to react at all.

But speed is relative. The bomb exploded behind the knight before he could run a few steps. The shock wave was only noticeable at a distance of two or three meters, and the main killing power still depended on the fragments.

The knight felt as if he was pushed from behind. He fell to the ground with a dizzy head. Then, he heard a chaotic crackling sound that was hard to react to. It was like hitting metal, sinking into flesh, or hitting stone...

But more explosions sounded, and the knight was so frightened that he lay on the ground and dared not get up, and this decision also saved him.

Anyway, when the knight came to his senses, he found that the robe behind him was torn, and there were several dents on the armor on his back, and there were even shrapnel embedded in it, and it almost penetrated.

He ran fast and had a good physique, so he could withstand the shock wave, and his armor helped him avoid the shrapnel, but what about the soldiers gathered around him?

Almost all of them were killed in one round, with shrapnel wounds all over their bodies. They fell to the ground wailing, and the tenacity of life seemed like a curse at this time.

One unlucky guy was even hit in the head and died instantly on the spot. In some ways, this was a good thing, as at least he didn't suffer such pain.

Of course, they gathered around the knights because they wanted to be protected, but no one expected that it would become a shortcut to hell.

Although the knight had experienced fighting before, he had only bullied ordinary people. He never thought that he would be so miserable.
But in the time he was distracted, Hamlet's soldiers had broken through the first line of defense with fire support.

"Ah! Run away!"

"help me!"

The remaining soldiers were so frightened that some of them subconsciously ran towards the fortress without even trying to resist.

The knight didn't dare to pretend anymore, and quickly found his horse and rode back. As long as he returned to the fortress, he would survive!

A soldier climbed up the wall, raised his rifle, aimed, and fired.

The knight on the horse suddenly felt as if he was hit by a heavy punch on the back. He lost control and fell off the horse to the ground.

The army selected sharpshooters to form snipers, with a few assigned to each team to complete specific tasks, such as this one. But the snipers didn't expect that the knight would struggle to get up after falling down, and this scene immediately aroused their vigilance.

Because they all came from fighting cultists, and knew something about the wonders of supernatural powers, so they naturally paid more attention to this kind of person who could survive being shot.

In fact, it was a misunderstanding. If he was an extraordinary person, he would not stay in this small place.

The previous shot tore through his armor, but he ran fast enough, and the power weakened as the distance increased. What really saved his life was the layer of chain mail lining his armor, and the thick clothes he wore in winter that blocked the final damage.

All we can say is that he has a tough life, but unfortunately, being alive is not necessarily a good thing sometimes, and now he is being treated as a prey.

Several soldiers came over and beat him up, stripped him out of his armor, and then took him to persuade the people in the fortress to surrender.

How could the remaining ordinary people dare to be brave after seeing the power of artillery? So after the knight fell, the battle was basically undecided.

After the infantry broke through the wall and opened the gate, they led the main force straight in, and basically shouted a few words of surrender wherever they went.

The so-called fortress was captured without any effort.

Drive all the civilians out and announce to them the fact that Hamlet is suppressing the rebellion and fighting back against the invaders.

But looking at their panic-stricken looks, I knew they probably didn't understand what was said.

Because to them it seemed that changing a lord would make no difference. They were more worried that the lord would start a massacre because of the knights' resistance just now.

Others were worried about the fate of their families and wanted to find familiar faces among those who surrendered.

But some people are destined to be disappointed. War is so ruthless. When they choose to stand against Hamlet, the outcome is already determined.

But they were more filled with fear and numbness than hatred, because the knight who was extremely powerful to them was also captured.

His armor was stripped off, his hands and feet were shackled, his clothes were stained with blood, his hair was disheveled, and he looked very dishevelled, completely lacking his former dignity.

The army did not stay here for too long. After taking it, they notified the rear to send people to take over, and they rushed to reunite after a short rest.

The situation was similar at the other two places. There was even a knight led by a knight who chose to provide support with his troops after receiving the news because the distance was too far.

He happened to run into Hamlet's army which was still on the march. He was confident in his own strength and chose to fight in the field, wanting to attack while their foothold was not yet stable, but then he was gone.

Another one was just an unlucky guy who had no idea of ​​the power of the artillery and was killed by a single shot from 500 yards away. Naturally, the rest of them surrendered quickly.

It can be said that there were no surprises in the successive conquests, and at this time Patton also received the news that Leonard had taken over the town, so this place was considered to have been taken over.

"Go and tell the lord the news quickly. I expect the barons will react next and the real war will begin."

Patton quickly compiled the information into a briefing and had someone pass it back.

This time it seemed like an unstoppable victory, but Patton knew very well that he had actually caught the enemy off guard. If he became arrogant because of this, he would be faced with failure next time.

Patton is no longer the young man he used to be. He has tasted the bitterness of failure and never wants to experience that feeling again.

Not to mention that you must never let down the lord's trust in you, so you must be even more careful.

The troops began to gather outside the town. The army rested and several commanders began to discuss the next battle...

When the baron received the news, he immediately sent people to notify the knights after a brief discussion.

But when those people arrived here, they had already seen the army stationed outside the captured town.

The loss of this place means that the territory outside this base line has also been conquered by Hamlet's army.

He did not expect it to happen so quickly, and the messenger did not dare to go forward to investigate. Instead, he ran back quickly and reported the news to the baron as quickly as possible.

The baron in the manor didn't expect this. He thought he was fast enough, but he was still a step slow.

It took only one day to reach this side. Judging from the current situation, this battle is inevitable.

The reason is simple. Hamlet's army arrived too quickly, beyond everyone's expectations, which means that he had no time to contact other barons, resulting in only two paths before him.

Or he could directly summon all the knights in the territory and gather all their strength to fight Hamlet's army.

If you win, everything is fine, but if you lose, everything will disappear.

The second option is to surrender directly and return all the territories that have been swallowed up. It is estimated that you will have to pay a sum of money in the end.

If he retreats to a baron's territory, he may not be able to support five knights. But now he has more than 20 fiefdom knights under him. How can he ask them to give up the territory?
I guess by then Hamlet won't even have to do anything, they will kill him, or they will just surrender and let Hamlet lead the way to attack him in return.

And even if those knights are really loyal and willing to give up their territories, the compensation by then will be enough to empty the entire territory. Have I fought for so long just to pay compensation to others?

Are we going to just give away the land that we have worked so hard to develop?
This option is absolutely not acceptable. If you fight, you still have a chance to win, but if you surrender, you lose everything, so you have no choice but to fight.

But there are still some tricks to how to play it.

"Send someone to negotiate. Even if we can't reach an agreement, at least we can hold them back, giving us more time to prepare for war. We can also go and see what their situation is.

Then inform everyone that war is inevitable and ask them to come and join us. As long as we can defeat Hamlet's army, those places will truly become ours."

Even if those knights received the news immediately, it would take a long time to gather the people in the territory and rush over.

After all, not all armies can maintain their combat effectiveness after marching for so many days like Hamlet's professional army.

Similarly, if the baron wants to recruit more soldiers in the territory, it will take time to arm and train them.

More importantly, this negotiation has a hidden purpose.

"Go and test those leaders, and tell them that since Lord Hamlet is unwilling to give them fiefs, I am willing.

The lord took all of Hamlet's belongings for himself and was unwilling to give them anything. Such a stingy guy didn't deserve loyalty at all.

Also inform those knights that it will be useless for them to surrender, as Hamlet's lord will not give them any fiefdom."

After saying this, everyone seemed to realize something...