Our family is in decline

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

The commander said nothing and signaled the team to speed up, and there was no need to save energy for the remaining few steps.

The team moved faster, and among them, the twenty cannons gradually entered the field under the traction of horses, and were deployed to point to the front of the wall.

"I'll say it again for the last time. The lord is kind and does not want to cause killing. Surrender now and you can still save your life, otherwise the bullets will not have eyes!"

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

The knight was naturally unwilling to retreat at all, because after approaching, he found that most of the soldiers were not wearing armor and it was difficult to protect against arrows.

If you dare to come over, the crossbowmen will shoot from a high position. If you want to get in, you must let your corpses cover this area.

It's just that he shouldn't mention someone, which is unacceptable to those Hamlet soldiers. His attitude towards their own lord is simply unacceptable.

"Damn it, pull the cannons up and fire!"

"Fire!"

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

This scene scared those people, and even the knights quickly retreated under the wall.

The interesting thing is that the cannons were not aimed at the wall or the gate, but at the wooden arrow tower.

The wood was not able to block the bombardment of the shells at all, and a round of twenty rounds collapsed it, and the archers on it fell down.

This was still good, one round was too high, and it hit the platform directly, penetrating the wooden planks of the fence and bursting countless wood chips into the archers, who immediately wailed.

Not to mention that the bullets went through and directly punched holes in the human body, and even half of the body was easily torn apart, so they couldn't even scream.

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

The knight can see this scene, and the soldiers can also see it. They didn't have much morale to begin with. After all, that was your territory, not mine.

They were still standing here just relying on the reward money and the pressure of the knight. Now they were directly stunned.

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

Hamlet is currently equipped with light artillery, also known as field artillery, which knows what aspect it specializes in. The ability to attack is not enough, even the stone wall in front of him is troublesome.

You have to use iron bullets to get close to it to knock it down, but the wooden arrow tower is much simpler, and stone bullets can be used.

After approaching a hundred yards, the most prominent ones in the team are several mortars. They are not as exaggerated as artillery, but they are good things for dealing with such walls and trenches.

It is also because the mortar can only fire at a distance of about 100 yards at most, so the arrow tower must be destroyed first.

This thing is simpler to operate than a cannon, but it is more difficult to aim, because the parabolic trajectory requires the calculation of the position of the falling shell, so the best gunners are on it.

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

Bonaparte does not need these. He just took a look, and the answer was generated in his mind. He completed the aiming first and fired a shot.

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

"Boom boom..."

Although the explosions that sounded one after another were not as accurate as Bonaparte's, they also covered that area, continuing to kill the enemy's living forces, so that they dared not show their heads to counterattack.

Then the cannon that had completed the second round of loading also fired again, this time directly hitting the gate, and 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 mortars throwing bombs. How could ordinary soldiers dare to do this?

Infantry and artillery coordination, even the wealthy Totnes could not raise soldiers of this quality...

However, the knight and the hard-assembled team suffered a lot.

Bonaparte aimed the knight at the first shot, but the knight was not a 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 in the air, he turned around and ran without hesitation. That is, the trajectory of the mortar was obvious. If it was a cannon, it would not give him any reaction time.

But speed is also relative. Before the knight ran a few steps, the bomb exploded behind him. The shock wave was only obvious at a distance of two or three meters. The main killing ability still depends on fragments.

The knight felt like he was pushed from behind, and fell to the ground with a dizzy head. Then, a chaotic crackling sound made it difficult to react. It sounded like hitting metal, sinking into flesh and blood, or hitting stone...

But more explosions sounded, frightening the knight so much that he didn't dare to get up at all, and this decision also saved him.

Anyway, when the knight came to his senses, the robe behind him was torn, and there were several dents on the armor on his back, and even shrapnel was embedded in it, almost not penetrating it.

He ran fast and had a good physique to withstand the shock wave, and the armor avoided the shrapnel damage, but what about the soldiers gathered around him?

Almost all of them were killed in one round, and their bodies were basically covered with shrapnel damage. They fell to the ground and wailed. The tenacity of life seemed like a curse at this time.

One unlucky man was hit in the brain and died suddenly on the spot. Under certain circumstances, it was a good thing, at least he did not suffer such pain.

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

Although the knight had experienced fighting before, it was just to bully ordinary people. How could he have thought that he would be so miserable?

But while he was stunned, Hamlet's soldiers had already broken through the first line of defense with fire support.

"Ah! Run away!"

"help me!"

The remaining soldiers were so frightened that they subconsciously ran towards the fortress without any resistance.

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

A soldier climbed onto the wall, took aim with his rifle, and then fired.

And the knight on the horse suddenly felt as if he was hit hard on the back, and he lost control and fell from the horse and fell to the ground.

The entire army selects sharpshooters and organizes them into snipers, and each team is assigned a few to complete specific tasks, such as now.

But the snipers didn't expect that the knight would struggle to get up after falling. This scene immediately aroused their vigilance.

Because they all had backgrounds in fighting cultists and knew something about the magic of extraordinary power, they were naturally more attentive to people who could survive being shot.

In fact, it was a misunderstanding. If he were an extraordinary person, he wouldn't stay in this small place.

The shot just now tore apart the armor, but he ran fast enough, and the power weakened as the distance increased. What really saved his life was that there was a layer of chainmail lining the armor. Finally, the thick clothes he wore in winter blocked the final damage. .

It can only be said that his life is still tough. Unfortunately, sometimes living may not be a good thing, but now he is regarded as prey.

Several soldiers came over and beat him violently, peeling him out of the armor, and then escorted him to recruit the people in the fortress.

How could the remaining ordinary people dare to be brave again after seeing the power of artillery? Therefore, after the knight fell, the battle situation basically had no suspense.

The infantry passed through the wall, opened the gate, and then introduced the large troops and marched straight in. Basically, wherever they went, they shouted a few words to surrender.

The so-called fortress was captured without any effort at all.

Drive all the civilians out of it and declare to them the fact that Hamlet suppressed the rebellion and fought back against the invaders.

But looking at their frightened looks, it was clear that they probably didn't understand what they were saying.

Because to them, it seems that changing to a lord makes no difference. They are more worried about whether that lord will go on a killing spree because of the knight's resistance just now.

Others are worried about the fate of their families and want to find familiar faces among the surrendered figures.

But some people are destined to be disappointed. War is so ruthless. When they choose to stand on the opposite side of Hamlet, the outcome is already doomed.

But they felt more fear and numbness than hatred, because the knight who was extremely powerful to them was also caught.

His armor had been stripped off, his hands and feet were shackled, his single clothes were stained with blood, his hair was disheveled and he looked very embarrassed, completely losing his former majesty.

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 join up after a short rest.

The situation was similar in the other two places. There was even a knight led by a knight who led his troops to support them after getting the news because they were far away.

Unexpectedly, he happened to bump into Hamlet's army who was still marching. He was confident in his own strength and chose to fight in the field. He wanted to rush forward while his footing was not stable, and then he was gone.

There was another one who was simply unlucky, unaware of the power of artillery, and was killed by a single shot from five hundred yards away. The rest was naturally a quick surrender.

It can be said that there were no surprises in the successive captures. At this time, Barton also received the news that Leonard had captured the town, and this place was considered occupied.

"Go and give the news to the lord. I predict that the barons will react next and the real war is about to begin."

Barton quickly consolidated the news into a briefing and had it passed back.

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

Barton is no longer the stupid young man he once was. He has tasted the bitter pill of failure, and he never wants to taste that feeling again.

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

The team 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 came here, they already saw the army stationed outside the captured town.

The loss of this place means that the territory beyond this point has also been captured by Hamlet's army.

He didn't expect it to be so fast, and the messenger didn't dare to go 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 it. He thought he was fast enough, but he was still a step slower.

It took only one day to reach here. According to the current situation, this battle is inevitable.

The reason is simple. Hamlet's army came too fast, beyond everyone's expectations, which means that he has no time to contact other barons, resulting in two options before him.

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

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

The second option is to surrender directly and return all the swallowed territories. It is estimated that he will have to pay compensation in the end.

If he shrinks back to a baron's territory, he may not be able to support five knights, and now he has more than 20 fiefdom knights under him. Let them give up the territory?

It is estimated that by then, Hamlet will not have to do anything, they will kill him, or surrender directly to Hamlet as a guide to fight him in turn.

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

The land that has been opened up with great difficulty is just handed over to others?

This option is absolutely not acceptable. There is still a chance to win if you fight, but you will lose everything if you surrender, so you can only fight.

But there are still some rules for how to fight.

"Send someone to communicate. Even if we can't talk, at least we have to delay them, giving us more time to prepare for the war, and also to see what their situation is.

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

Even if the knights receive the news immediately, it will take a lot of time to gather the people in the territory to rush over.

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

Similarly, the baron needs time to arm and train more soldiers in the territory.

More importantly, there is a hidden purpose for this negotiation.

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

That lord took all of Hamlet's things for himself and was unwilling to give them a single cent. Such a stingy guy doesn't deserve loyalty.

Also inform those knights that it's useless for them to surrender, as Lord Hamlet won't give them fiefs."

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