There was a loud muffled sound of "bang~", and a cannonball landed on a gap in the city wall that had been broken.

The instant vibration from the feet shook the two soldiers not far away from the vicinity at once, and with a dull sound, the sand in the sky fell on the top of the people's heads.

Standing on the wall, Ofleiuil glanced at the wall that had been hit by the cannonballs, and then turned his gaze to the French army below, who were preparing to attack the city again.

The shelling had been going on for two days, and the unexpectedly powerful French artillery surprised many, including Ofleuil.

During these two days, the French bombarded the walls of the castle of Montina with artillery again and again, even at night, which made the people of the city feel indescribable fear, and if it were not for the huge pennants that always flew on the walls, many people would have thought that Montina was about to fall.

Barondi and the ladies of the court hid in a monastery far from the city walls, and as she herself said, letting those who really knew what to do was the main reason why Alexander was relieved to make her a prisoner, and after announcing the beginning of the war with the French, she did not give any extra orders, but immediately announced in public that Offleiil would take over all command, and at the same time she solemnly declared, From that time on, everything in the principality was under the full command of Ofleiuil, who was the commander of the city defense army, and Gompati, who was the commander-in-chief of the field regiments.

Then Barentia gathered all the ladies of the court, led them into the church, and as she closed the door of the church, she said to Aufrail, "I hope to hear the good news that the French have retreated, and otherwise I will have to sign the instrument of surrender in the name of a dead regent." ”

Barondi's words made Oflaiyi feel a heavy pressure, although he already knew what kind of situation he was facing now, but when he actually faced it, he realized that maybe he was not fully prepared.

But the French had apparently not given him a chance to adapt to the tremendous pressure in front of him, and after two days of shelling, he had quickly transformed from a staff officer to an independent field commander, and now he was not as nervous as he had been at the beginning, and on the contrary, with the power of the castle of Montina in the past two days, he had gradually mastered the trick of how to deal with the situation in front of him.

"The French seem to have become wiser," said Aufrail, who was not far away, and found himself underestimating him, and it was clear that Pomperny was able to build such a fortress not only by virtue of his workmanship, but also by his experience with such a military fortress, which was naturally reflected in the battlefield, "and they seemed to intend to attack from the two highest points, which was not quite right." ”

"Oh, you see?" Pomperney grinned at his son-in-law, and Pomperney was actually not dissatisfied with Auf Aileil, the only thing that did not make him happy was that Auf Aileil was a "soldier", Pomperney, who had seen too much death, did not want her daughter to be frightened, let alone let her experience the terrible tragedy of losing her husband, but since Ashley had decided, Pomperney could only try to ensure that this "soldier" could survive as much as possible "The French probably felt that our artillery could not fire at them along the city walls, Because if we do that, we either hit them or we hit ourselves. ”

"Yes, this Sharon is really difficult to deal with," said Ofleiil, a little annoyed, "if only he had died at the hands of the Coalition forces in Rome." ”

Complaining, Ofleiil looked with some annoyance at the French troops who were trying to approach from both ends along the anti-approach trench, the group with shields and spears, reflecting the dazzling light in the scorching sun, made people feel indescribably depressed, and he tried to raise his hand several times to signal the artillery to fire, but was stopped by the old man.

"Don't worry, little one," said Pomperney, looking at the French who were almost ready to approach the trench, "have you ever fished, I mean the big fish?" ”

Seeing Ofray shaking his head blankly, Pompeni laughed, "You know, those big fish are very powerful in the water, when they struggle, they can drag a man in the prime of life into the water, but once they fall to the shore, then they have no ability, these French are the same, now they are fish in the water, and then it depends on how they are dragged ashore." ”

As soon as Pomperney's words fell, the French trumpets sounded below the city, and groups of soldiers began to slowly cross the first trench and approach the city walls.

As the French approached the second trench, the cannons of the Château de Montina began to roar, and shells fell in a curve towards the city, some not far from the ranks, but more on the clearing, and as the ground was plowed into the deep trench, a cloud of dirt was splashed.

"My lord, there is no way for the Montina artillery to shoot at our army at this angle!" Below the city, an officer excitedly reported to Sharron, who was standing on the high ground, that "our army is approaching the city walls." ”

Charlen silently looked at the castle in the distance, he was not excited by the seemingly smooth situation in front of him, he knew that this was actually just the beginning, and when he saw the castle for the first time, he had a feeling that maybe the king had made a mistake by choosing to attack Montina.

The advancing ranks had already begun to spread out between the trenches, and as the French had to slow down as the trenches had gradually become no longer in their original formation, Charron frowned, and then he gave the order to the heralds around him to stop the advance of the follow-up troops.

The herald immediately jumped on his horse and rushed forward, his speed was very fast, and the obvious red cloak on his body also made the soldiers know that this cavalryman had an important mission, so they gave way to him.

Passing past the two groups that had not yet had time to move, the herald ran towards the French army in front of him, who were already preparing to follow the French army over the trench, and just as he shouted to the officer who was walking in front of the line, a piercing whistling roar suddenly fell from the sky from far and near with a scorching heat wave!

With a "poof", the herald's war horse seemed to have been suddenly sawed off four legs and collapsed downward, and together with the war horse that was directly smashed by the cannonball, half of its body turned into a puddle of flesh and mud in an instant, it was the herald who was completely unrecognizable.

Then came the castle with the angry humming of swarms of hornets that seemed to be made when a huge beehive was suddenly breached.

A deadly rain of bullets fell over the heads of the French soldiers trapped between the trenches, and the soldiers who were hit fell to the ground screaming, and some clever soldiers immediately jumped into the trenches to dodge, but most of them could only run blindly or raise their shields to try to resist the falling bullets.

Seeing the herald being smashed into meat sauce by the cannonball in an instant, the silent Sharon just shook his head helplessly: "Send another person to order them to stop advancing, it's better to find a big one, I don't want to waste time because of this." ”

The officer next to him immediately ordered to send a new herald, and looking at the back of the soldier who stepped on his horse and rushed forward, Sharron's eyes fell on the castle in the distance.

"Those bastions should do their job," Ofleiil looked at the small bastions under the city walls, which were completely open to the castle on one side and V-shaped on the outside, and looked at the busy soldiers inside, and glanced at the old man, "Do you think they can stop it?" ”

"Does it matter?" Pomperney shrugged disappreciatively, "Their role is only to try to keep the enemy under the walls, and that's enough." ”

Offrey nodded, he knew that the old man was right, from the day the small anti-approach fortress outside the city was built, the soldiers guarding these small fortresses were destined to face the most serious situation.

"Prepare to shoot ~Agri Musketeers~" Ofleiyi ordered in a loud voice, and a horn sounded from the city walls.

"Ready to shoot ~Agri Musketeers~"

A response came from the bastions.

Without the protection of sword and shield men, the crushing of spearmen, and the support of Bohemian light cavalry, this was the first time that the Agri musketeers faced the enemy alone.

The muskets on the ramparts had ceased, and the French, who had been beaten by the first wave of fire, began to gather again at the shouts and chapels of the officers, and they began to cross another trench in front of them, and when they saw a row of small angular independent bastions on the slightly higher slope ahead, they could not help but roar and rush forward.

"Ready~"

In the fort, a squad leader gave the order, the veteran who had come out of Agri with Alexander was calm and composed, and the many battles had made them no longer as passionate as those young men, but the experience made it easier and faster for them to kill people.

"Round-robin, first row, shoot!"

A white cloud of smoke spread from the front of the fortress, and the sudden volley of gunfire pierced people's ears as if they had been poked into their ears with their fingers.

The soldiers, choked on the smoke and coughing, quickly crouched down despite the discomfort in their throats, while the musketeers in the second platoon had already raised their guns and pulled the trigger on the Frenchman who were about to rush in front of him.

From the top of the city wall, it can be clearly seen that the French soldiers who fell at the front instantly spread out in the open space in front of the anti-Leng Fort like a spreading line, and some of them directly fell into the trench, although it was only the first wave of two volleys, but the attacking French troops immediately stopped as if they had been smashed by an invisible fist!

"Prepare to fire."

Ofleiil smiled, as long as the French could not get close to the city walls, then they would always be within the range of his artillery, and even if they captured the fortresses below, because they had been built with the possibility of falling into the hands of the enemy, they were designed to be completely open to the side of the castle, so that they were completely under the threat of muskets.

But this was obviously the most comfortable, and Oflaiyi felt that he didn't even need Gompati, and that he could prove himself with artillery at such a distance.

But as soon as his words fell, there was a sudden intermittent sound of horns from the French position, and the attacking French troops quickly retreated to the rear, they were so hasty that not only did they not care about the dead people, but even their living companions were simply thrown on the position.

"Sharron retreated?" Ofleiil looked out of the city with some surprise, looking at the French army that was gradually reuniting on the way to retreat, and his brow could not help but furrow.

Then he punched the sandbags piled on the walls: "If only he was a little late......"

"But he had a good time, didn't he," Pomperney glanced at his son-in-law, "just a little bit, but that's how he kept the situation from getting worse." ”

Oflaiyi nodded, he couldn't help but admit that what the old man said was right, the Frenchman had indeed stopped a loss in time, compared to the damage that seemed to have a lot of losses now, but in fact the casualties were not large, Charlon's decision was undoubtedly timely and correct.

"It's really hard to deal with."

Looking at the devastated walls of the city during the past two days, Ofleiil sighed slightly, he knew that the battle with the Frenchman had only just begun.

"It's really hard to deal with."

Offrey didn't know that at the same time, Sharon was saying the same thing, he looked at the several officers standing in front of him with their heads bowed, waved their hands at random, and then asked the servant next to him to serve them the wine that had been prepared: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Montina, the capital of the Duchy of Rome and Thesia, although this capital is a little smaller, but I am sure none of you have ever seen such a fortress, in that case, why should we all be discouraged by a setback?" ”

Scharlon's words made the officers feel a little better, as Sharron said, they had never attacked such a fortress, and even looked at the hedgehog-like wall, there was an inexplicable fear, and those completely unexpected anti-approach to the trench and anti-approach to the fortress were something they had never encountered before, which made them feel uneasy because of the fear of the unknown even when they launched the attack.

"But they're trapped in this castle now, aren't they," Charlain smiled at his officers, "then there's only one thing we have to do now, to trap them firmly in Montina's fortress, and since they want to use these walls to stop us, let's hide in them forever and don't come out." ”

Looking at Sharron's seemingly relaxed expression, the officers who were originally depressed finally smiled.

As Charlen said, they were unable to capture the fortified city for a while, but there was no doubt that the Montina army was also trapped in the city, and based on their years of experience, even the strongest castle would always fall.

Unless......

Charlon, who looked relaxed and even casually chatted with a few officers about the anecdotes of those noble ladies in Rome, instantly sank after returning to the tent, he sat down and beckoned to the side, took the damage report that the attendant had just collected, looked at the three-digit casualty figure on it, he slowly took off the uncomfortable iron gauntlet, and then took off the black armor with the help of the attendant.

"More than 100 people?"

"135 to be exact," the attendant reported, struggling to untie the belt on the breastplate that protected his right shoulder blade, "the adults were frightened and threw down quite a few of them, but the Montina sent us the wounded, and as for the corpses, they sent someone to give them to us, and they don't seem to be bad." ”

Seeing the attendant smashing his lips with a look of unfinished content, Sharon let out a low laugh, "It seems that they have treated you well." ”

"They have a lot of sugar, and their soldiers can actually use it to entertain people," said the squire, a little excitedly, "and they can actually drink coffee there, which is only enjoyed by the old men." ”

"Oh, their soldiers are enviable," Scharron finally took off his heavy armor, shook his aching shoulders and looked at the damage report again, "but they didn't send us the wounded because they were kind. ”

"Yes, my lord, suddenly there are so many burdens." The squire knelt down and helped his master take off his boots, while Charlain had already picked up a quill and began to write letters to Louis XII.

"Your Majesty, the fortification of the castle of Montina has been beyond our expectations, and it makes me wonder if the purpose of the great retreat of the Roman-Trician army was to draw us under the city of Montina, and then to use up our forces with strong fortresses and strong firepower," Charlon wrote with a little concern, "Given that Gompati of Roman-Thesia is not in the city of Montina, I think it is necessary to remind you that perhaps our enemies are hatching a great conspiracy, for we have trapped the enemy in front of us in the city, But even if it wasn't the enemy, it was also holding our army back......"

At this point, Scharon paused, pondering what to say, for he knew that the next words were likely to anger the king, but the doubts in his heart, which had grown stronger since he had entered the Duchy of Thesia, made him unable not to speak frankly: "Your Majesty, Boweken is now also hanging in the air because he has not taken Pisa, so that although we have more troops than the enemy, the situation is not very good, and the army of the Emperor and the Venetians is closing in on us, And the Queen of Naples is in the field herself, so allow me to suggest to you that you consider halting the march on Florence for the time being, and if necessary, whether we should reconsider shrinking our fronts, for we have indeed gone too far into the territory of Rome and Thesia, and allow me to take the liberty of reminding you not to forget the lessons of the previous kings, that Florence is indeed a jewel that anyone would want to pick, but it is also a poppy that exudes an aura of temptation and danger. ”

Sharron handed the letter to the attendant, and after careful advice, let him leave that day.

Subsequently, Charlain gave the order again and launched a fierce attack on the castle of Montina!

On the same day, Louis XII of Pecha, who garrisoned Pecha, also gave the order to force the crossing of the Arno River and march into Florence.

And in the south, on July 5, 1501, the Neapolitan army led by the Neapolitan queen of Naples, Jossa Cosenza Rastamara, entered the city of Siena, less than 30 fats from Florence.

"You said that Florence has a special meaning for you," standing in the square of the Benedict Cathedral of Siena, known as the Red City, Josha's eyes were already in the distance, "then brother, let's go to Florence." ”