prince of europe in quintiles

Chapter 71 Watch Me Fall When Pushed

"Food, grain! I told you to check five times a day, why are there only three lines drawn on the wooden board?" Greya, the master trader, stomped on several tenant farmers angrily.

The tenant farmers are all mud legs who don't know how to read or write. Facing the well-known Greya in the Free City of Göttingen, they can only "promise" three times, isn't it enough? '

"Oh, five times if you say it five times, you won't hit it if you miss one!"

Greya stomped her feet precisely because the Free City of Göttingen still had various omissions that urgently needed to be supplemented.

When the war in the Principality of Friesland gradually ended, Horten, who realized that the war was about to break out, immediately began to mobilize all the territories.

It happens to be winter, and at this time, it is in the stage of one crop and one harvest every year, or the 1.5 stage of planting other crops during the intermission period, so farmers stay at home in winter.This provided huge convenience for Huo Teng's war mobilization.

Relying on the fortified castles of the knights, Huo Teng asked the tenant farmers and serfs under the guardianship of the knights, all kinds of slaves, as well as the freemen and sergeants under the custody of the knights to move to the castle with their families, animals and all salutes.Accept the asylum of war.Especially in the cold winter, when there are not many infectious diseases for the time being, and everyone needs to gather together to keep warm, it is not unacceptable to feel aggrieved for two or three months.

Most sharecroppers and freedmen accepted this requirement.Anyway, huddling in the castle can save winter firewood and related taxes.But naturally, there are a few people who don't want to take refuge in the castle, but hide in the nearby forest and live alone. Huo Teng didn't force it, but only asked them to prepare winter clothes and food.

"Damn it, you bastard Andreas." Huo Teng was inspecting his city wall at this time, scolding Andreas while inspecting.

The grandson ran away with the precious belongings in the Göttingen Abbey, the ashes of the saints that Huo Teng didn't even snatch, and most of the books on scholars, religion, and medicine.It doesn't matter if he runs away, he also takes away the monks who can cure diseases, which makes Huo Teng very headache.

He could only temporarily organize a group of freedmen who were barely literate, and according to his own memory and folk earthworks, he trained them in medical techniques for treating golden wounds and diarrhea.

"You look at a corner, shouldn't a watchtower be built?" Jones touched the square corner and felt that it was not safe enough.

And Amelia, who migrated to Liberty City with the people of Bowendeng Village, shook her head and pointed to the Yachi River Bend behind her and said, "We have this river bend as a protection, and we have also built a small pier. Isn't it the other people who should be worried the most? Break through from here?"

Bowendeng Village suffered several disasters in a row, and was overwhelmed this winter, so they could only run to Liberty City as a whole, and set up a temporary camp behind the solid city wall to live in.The small Free City of Göttingen is only one mile square, but it is bustling with more than 1000 people living here. Fortunately, Huo Teng had worked hard in advance and bought enough grain for the winter from the Rhine River Merchant Road to which the Yachi River belongs. .

Huo Teng felt that the opinions of both parties were reasonable.

The right-angled city wall has no rounded corners and watchtowers to defend it, and the port must also be protected.

But the problem is that there are only so many migrant workers on hand, and resources are not available at will, and even soldiers cannot be recruited because the enemy is approaching.

At this time, the returned father Ma Di gave Huo Teng a suggestion: "Build the city wall first. How can there be so many smart people who would think of attacking from the river bend. He doesn't have that ability, unless he recruits a group of Vikings." Pirates going south."

Old Madi recalled the little lion he saw at the banquet, and he was envious and emotional, with a little bit of dissatisfaction from the poor: "If you want me to say, that little lion has never been on the battlefield independently, his arrogance The posture, wishing to push his nose to the sky, would he think of this?"

The Middle Ages was an underdeveloped age.There are many cases of war without warning, and even the leapfrog tactics of pirates, not every lord knows how to use them.Moreover, if it involves forming an alliance with pirates, it will be punished by the church.

So, Huo Teng decided: "Then strengthen the right angle of the city wall, and demolish the pier by the way! Only our ships are left for easy passage."

Yes, directly demolish the hard-built pier to prevent the enemy from landing on a large scale.It's like Huo Teng ordered all the farmers to leave the village and dig up the straw on the roof and the mud that broke the walls.

At this critical moment, we dare not take any chances.

In addition to the rounded corners of the city wall, Huo Teng urgently organized a group of women and children to chop all the wood he felled with the authority of the forest ranger into thick planks, and built an additional row of front-exit fender boards on the city wall. , to expose the shooting holes to allow the archers to play freely; the precious animal skins are used to build an arrow shelter to prevent arrows from being thrown; naturally there will be no shortage of parapets and reinforced castle foundations.

Since the city had just been established for half a year, even the moat was dug temporarily.

Huo Teng put most of his manpower and material resources on the excavation of the moat.The bad situation is that after more than a month of digging the moat, only a small ditch with a depth of less than two meters and a width of about three meters can only be dug out.

The good news is that you don't need to worry about drawbridges and the like, just dig.Facing at least six or seven times as many enemy troops, Huo Teng was not prepared to start from the front door at all.

Moreover, Horten happened to have studied the composition of the moat of Constantinople, the largest city in Europe at that time.So Huo Teng specially added a lot of material to the moat.

Before the Yachi River was dug through, Huo Teng cut the excess wood into pointed shapes and buried them upward in the moat.In addition, Huo Teng threw all kinds of sharp stones, debris, etc., all things that could cut people into it.

Moreover, there are large pits of varying depths in many places.

When the enemy was about to attack across the moat, Huo Teng set up a low wall on the bank of the moat and refused horses by the river, so that the archers who went forward could call the enemy and form a double firepower network with the city wall.

And when the enemy finally crossed the river with casualties, these archers could come back quickly in hanging baskets and climbing wooden ladders.

Last but not least, is Huo Teng's secret made eighth...ahem...golden juice, wood and ladder rods, and Huo Teng's optimized catapult.Of course, it also includes the tens of thousands of wooden poles that Huo Teng obtained by using his job scope. These are the materials for making arrows.If there is no other way, just cut and shoot.

This is a brand new design that emptied out all the stocks in Huo Teng's brain, just waiting for the enemy to attack.

Similar to here, Gottingenburg has undergone a new revision and construction, and the guard is no worse than Free City.Connorsa is over there, she also has the Knights of the Inner Palace, and Greb's assistant.

The Free City of Göttingen and Fort Göttingen stand on guard and help each other. Standing on the city wall, you can see each other's fireworks and flags, which can effectively involve the mobilization of the enemy's troops.

The chivalrous masker and Geoffrey, and Henrik, the dung road knight, help Horten guard Millhouse Castle.Huo Teng could do nothing about the other castles, he could only see the local knights figure out their own solutions.

Fortunately, whether Huo Teng's efforts can resist the enemy is still uncertain, but the system has already reminded him that the city wall has been upgraded.

【粗糙石制城墙（2级）：守军士气+1、免维护军队+1，提供驻军：矛兵团X2、警备小队X1。】

【城墙附属建筑：挡箭板（弓箭手威力+10%，受伤-10%）挡箭棚（士兵受伤-10%）望楼（守军视野+20%，弓箭手命中+10%）】

[Moat (unique building level 1): a moat specially made by Huo Teng himself, full of dangers (enemy damage +15%, delay enemy action speed)]

Huo Teng accidentally obtained two teams of peasant spearmen, and a 12-man guard team.

[The guard sergeant (12 people), wearing heavy and thick chain mail, wearing a solid iron helmet, holding a long sword and shield, they are a solid shield to guard the city.Traits: Extremely vigilant, the guard sergeant will be extremely vigilant against the enemy's sneak attack and destroy the enemy's surprise attack. 】

"Do you want to contact the countess again? Or should I go to Göttingenburg to direct?" Jones frowned, worried about her husband and her best friend.

Huo Teng shook his head and said, "No. The little lion will definitely attack me. He is eager to defeat me to show his boring self-esteem."

……

"Is this the Duck Pond and Göttingen? It looks almost the same as Saxony."

As the general of the 3000-strong army, the little lion Bernard marched by the river on horseback, feeling very bored.

Marching and fighting in the Middle Ages, of course, also had its own rules.

But compared with the strict legion rules of the Roman Empire, it was too rough.

Under Bernard as the coach, there are also a commander team composed of several earls and barons. They each lead their own and allied armies. Roughly, they can be divided into several spearman brigades, several archer brigades, and two knights. brigade.They each trust their superior lord, rather than directly obeying the lion cub himself.

After fighting fiercely in the Principality of Friesland for more than a month, Bernard Jr. began to be overconfident in his command ability.

He believes that fighting is a formation charge.

As long as the general agrees with the generals and commanders on how to continue the war before the war, victory is within easy reach.

Although there is nothing wrong in theory, not every general can do it in practice.

At least before the 16th century, in all similar battles, the commander-in-chief discussed with several phalanx commanders, and then started the fight all at once.Whether you can adapt freely in the battle depends entirely on God's will.

Re-command in battle?That means you're crazy.

Any second order that shakes the morale of the army, any choice that makes the army hesitate, is a way of self-destruction.

"General, do you see that strange city in front of you? That is the Free City of Göttingen founded by Horten."

The little lion raised his head, looked at the messy castle with various defensive buildings, and couldn't help smiling.

"Crudely built castle, watch me knock it down!"

Chapter 72 Growing Up in Battle

Frankly speaking, attacking a well-defended city is like slaughtering an iron shell bastard.

Of course, the important thing is whether you have the tools at hand, otherwise no matter how many arrogant soldiers you have, if you can't penetrate the city wall, you can't penetrate it.A body of flesh and blood is a cow without stone walls. This is the most basic physical property, which does not change because of the particularity of a person.

And at this time, what does a castle usually look like?

Savage castles, in the crudest English fashion, are great houses built in a ring of piles.Some advanced ones, such as the Norman castle, are two or three-story watchtower-style buildings with earth rams or partial stone foundations, just like the devil's blockhouse.What is more common and civilized in Western Europe is a larger wooden castle stockade, or a stone-based wooden castle, just like the small castle in Mount and Blade.The most advanced part is in Roman and Muslim countries such as southern Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and Cordoba.

Horten's city walls are of course also wooden, but an inner layer of reinforcement temporarily reinforces the stone and raw cement, making it stronger than it looks.Due to the concealment of the stone wall, the protruding shooting holes on the city wall, arrow shields, and watchtowers on the corners all appear top-heavy, as if they would fall off if they were hit.

And the stone wall is also squeezed against the wooden wall, making it swaying, as if you can grab the edge and climb up as soon as you reach out.

This caused the invading Saxon Legion to laugh, not caring about it.

"Should we consider stopping and building engineering weapons in situ? At least some ladders."

Bernard I chose a mature and prudent deputy commander for his son, located in the southeast of Hanover, and in the northeast of the three counties of Göttingen and Kassel, Viscount Goslar, Hamster.This is an old baron who has followed Duke Bernard for more than 20 years.His fief, Goslar, is also a rich mining city with iron ore and copper mines. It was once so rich that even the earl was tempted.The locals call themselves the 'City of Witches' because the city is located in the valley of three hills, as if witches came to hold a meeting.But in fact, the dangerous terrain is the core of this nickname.

"No, no, look at this little broken castle, our soldiers can climb up it with bare hands." The little lion Bernard was full of confidence, but he was not ready to accept the advice of the adjutant.

Obviously, the little lion has never seen high-quality siege warfare.

Of course, the vast majority of German generals have never seen them in recent years.They followed the late Otto II and III when they conquered Rome, the greatest city in Europe (in their opinion), the nobles in the city opened the door and surrendered, and took it down without any effort.

But Hamster still has concerns.

He saw that although the enemy's city walls were weird, they seemed to be prepared in every gesture.The density of various facilities, defensive tools, and personnel on the city wall may cause huge casualties to the invading army.

"If not, let's make a bet. Just block his hastily dug moat, whether the depth can bury our soldiers."

Of course, the little lion also has two brushes.He grew up in Lüneburg and traveled around Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover and other places.He knows a little bit about moats.When he saw the section of the river bank and the mud everywhere, he knew that the moat was dug now.And based on the color of the water and the estimated population of Liberty City, the little lion thinks that this moat is just a show.

Several earls and barons around came together with interest.They are generally optimistic, and their military literacy is generally not bad, so most of them bet on the superficiality of the moat.

A guard held up his shield and took the opportunity to go down the river.

He is about 1.6 meters, standing in the river, the water is only submerged to the neck, and some places are only waist deep.Such a moat is obviously unstoppable.

Hamster took the initiative to apologize: "It seems that I was too nervous."

Hearing this, the little lion raised his head even more proudly.Being able to defeat the veteran deputy appointed by his father, in his opinion, is his own outstanding personal ability.It's these old things that can't keep up with the times.

"Arrange soldiers to cross the river forcibly, we will attack directly under the city wall, and climb the wall to attack!"

Although the Saxon army had just ended the battle in Friesland, it was a land of long battles after all, and the soldiers' ambitions were relatively high. After they had lunch, they went down to the ground to prepare to cross the river.

Forcibly crossing the river is of course not directly diving into the water, that would be a target.

When the Saxon army was looking for wood nearby, they realized that there were no trees in this forested place, and they were all chopped down by Huo Teng.

This caused the Saxon army to send cavalry further afield to cut wood.

By the time they were ready to attack, it was already mid-afternoon.Huo Teng and Jones' family on the city wall even sat down with chicken legs and waited for the Saxon army to prepare.

In this era, the height of Europeans has been fluctuating around 1.6 meters, ordinary people are about 1.5 meters, and knights are already tall and strong if they are close to 1.7 meters.So Huo Teng's height belongs to the one that stands out from the crowd and can be found immediately.

The little lion's eyesight is very good. Seeing a tall man eating a meat leg, he was infuriated for no apparent reason.

"Pack up your things, we'll see you tomorrow..." the deputy, Baron Hamster, asked the soldiers to pack up as usual.

It was almost winter at this time, and it was dark at five o'clock in the evening.

You can't fight at night with the lights on, right?

"No, let the soldiers charge for a try." The little lion had a kind of superstitious confidence in the Saxon army.

He believed that the ever-victorious Black Forest Legion had plenty of room to defeat the poor people in the south.

Hamster wanted to stop Bernard Jr., but was stopped by his colleagues.

Everyone knows that this war is the whetstone used by old Bernard to practice his son.Let the little lion often feel the taste of hard victory.

These seasoned assistants are not used to prevent the little lion from making wrong decisions, they are just used to wipe the little lion's ass.

So, everyone was silent.

The soldiers who were already preparing to pack up and return to their tents were forced to reorganize their attack.

Because the little lion was in a hurry and it was almost night, the Saxon army directly tied the wooden planks with stones and threw them into the river.They thought it was enough to block the bottom of the river with this.

Then a large group of Saxon soldiers, more than 1.5 meters long, carried their shields and went directly down the river in the prelude to the cold winter.

"Aren't they afraid of freezing to death?" Huo Teng was a little surprised.

"It's not snowing, so people won't freeze to death." On the contrary, Jones felt that Huo Teng was making a fuss.

This is the unique advantage of low human rights, and they are not afraid of death at all.

Amelia waved over the city gate, and let the basket fall to the ranger-archers, who shot behind the low walls.The archers on the top of the city moved their fingers for the first time, and took out armor-piercing arrows to teach the Saxon army how to behave.

But Horten still underestimated the tenacity of the Saxon army.

From time to time, soldiers fell in the river and never got up again.But the following hundreds of soldiers still went down the river one after another, without procrastination at all.Even though dozens of soldiers were lost during the river crossing stage, the little lion didn't frown at all.

"Quick, bring our archers back."

The little lion doesn't care whether the soldiers live or die, Huo Teng cherishes his archers.

Therefore, it only took one assault, and the moat carefully arranged by Horten was conquered by the Saxon army.The sharp objects placed in the river did not have much effect.Either they were washed away by the river, or these soldiers with injured soles didn't care at all.

"It's tricky." Jones looked at the militiamen around him and couldn't help but feel bad.

The Saxon army is really a militia regiment that is almost a professional soldier based on war experience.

After these soldiers crossed the river with ease and seized the low wall, they did not rush to attack, but stayed behind the low wall to meet the follow-up soldiers ashore.The bunker Huo Teng left for the archers turned out to be a boost for the enemy.