Chapter 125: Confrontation
King Robert Sheehan crouched on the battlements, motionless like a statue, and the river was blazing across the ruins of what had once been a fishing market and dock.
On this day, as expected, Jocris's camp secretly launched an attack on the royal city of Dubrovnik from the Adriatic Sea.
Under McCrandell's command, all the triad and flasks that had been built were delivered to the archers who stood on the walls, half of the fleet of Jocris's camp was on fire, and the ships of the royal fleet were also burning, and the lit ships were turned into funeral pyres, turning people into living torches, and the air was full of smoke, arrows, and screams.
More than a dozen fires burned under the walls, but the power of the burst of the asphalt tank pales in comparison to the burning caused by the triple bow, like a candle lit in a burning house.
Their orange and bright red glow seemed so small in front of the emerald green fire festival, low clouds stained the color of the river, and different shades of green covered the sky. It's weirdly beautiful and terrifying, just like the dragon flame in the book.
McLandall thought of the dragon's flames that he had seen spewing from a book before.
The hot wind lifted the crimson cloak and whipped it on his bare face, but he didn't want to avoid it, he vaguely realized that some people in the royal city guards in the castle tower were cheering, but he couldn't join in out loud, the victory was only half in hand, and it was far from enough.
Another barge stuffed with flaming arrows was engulfed in hungry flames, and an emerald green fountain rose sharply from the surface of the river, a dozen meters high, and the light of the explosion forced him to cover his eyes, and the flames danced on the water, crackling, sizzling, and drowning out all the screams, and the river was filled with hundreds, if not thousands, either drowning, or catching fire, or both.
Do you hear their screams, Joe Cris? Do you see them burning? Not only is this a ploy on my part, but also because of your stupidity, McLandall knows that in the boiling crowd or ships on the other side, Jocrith is watching somewhere, and at this time he must be sitting in the rear, commanding the reserves, and Crission may be on horseback at the moment, wearing bright armor and a crown on his head, with another team of knights, watching the next development of the situation.
"My ship!" King Robert Sheehan shouted hoarsely in the aisles of the city walls, huddled behind the battlements with his guards, wearing a golden ring representing the king's status on his helmet.
"My royal fleet is on fire! Look, it's burning, it's there! He poked his new sword, and Green Flame licked the golden hull of the ship, climbed onto the oars, and the captain urgently turned against the current to avoid it, but could not escape the flames caused by the rain of three bows.
Those warring fleets are doomed, McLandall knows it, but there is no other way, if he doesn't take the initiative to invite the battle, Jocrill will not take the bait, once he strikes, it is beyond human control. "No way," he told King Robert Sheehan, "somehow our fleet will be ruined, and it would be better to make them a little more valuable." ”
The smoke and fire were so thick that he couldn't tell what was going on, but he had practiced it a thousand times in his mind, and when the fleet of Jocris's camp passed through the royal city, he signaled, and ten thousand arrows were fired in unison, and the sound was huge, and there was a rapid roar in the air. He saw a blackened figure in the blackened ruins of the docks, and it was time for another assault, and he thought that the army was most vulnerable when it staggered ashore, and could not give the enemy time to assemble on the north shore.
He tumbled down the battlements, "Tell the captain of the royal city guard that there is an enemy on the river," he said to one of the heralds, and then turned to the other, "greet the knight of Janis Odo for me, and ask him to turn the royal fleet sixty degrees west." "It's not enough to block the river, but at least it's enough to surround Jocris's ships.
Shortly after one herald left, another panted up the stairs. "Quick, sir!" He got down on one knee, "They've landed hundreds of people on the other side!" He went to the city gate with a battering ram. ”
McCrandell cursed as he staggered down the stairs, unbelievably screaming at Jocris, and that was the sharpest knife he wielded!
The Knight of Enod led his horse and waited below, and after getting on his horse, he did not say a word, and galloped along the river, and Knight Enod followed closely behind him.
At this time, the doors of the houses were closed, the houses were shrouded in green shadows, and there were no people on the roads, and McClandall had already ordered the streets to be cleared so that the defenders could quickly move between the gates.
Even so, when we reached the gate on the other side, the roar of the wood could be heard, and there was no doubt that the battering ram was engaged in battle. Huge hinges creaked like the groans of a dying giant.
The square in front of the gate was full of wounded soldiers, but there were several columns of horses, many of them unwounded, and the surviving mercenaries and the royal city guards were enough to form a strong team.
"All the team!" He shouted and jumped off his horse. The gates shook under another wave of impact. "Who's in charge here? Damn it! Rush out of here! ”
"No," a shadow popped up in the shadows of the city walls, and the big man in smoky gray armor ripped off his helmet with both hands and threw it to the ground, the monstrous dog helmet was scorched and deformed, his right ear had been cut off, and blood was dripping from the top of one eye, flowing through his burning scar and covering half of his face.
"Gotta go!" McLandall looked directly at the other party.
The big man breathed roughly, "Fuck you." ”
A mercenary stepped forward, "We've struck, my lord. There were three or four fights, half of the casualties were lost, and everywhere there was a raging fire, and the horses neighed like men, and the people shouted like horses! ”
"You think I hired you to participate in a sword duel? Can you still have an intermission? Aha? Fuck me on the horse! You too! ”
The big man's blood glowed red, but his eyes were pale, and he slowly drew his sword.
He was scared, and McLandall was shocked to realize that the big man was scared!
He turned to explain the urgency of the situation: "Prick up your ears and listen, they have carried the battering ram to the gates, and they must be stopped!" Immediately! Right away! ”
"Open the door, let them in, and then surround and kill." The big man plunged his sword into the ground, leaning on the hilt of it, his body shaking. "We've already lost most of our dead and wounded, and we don't have many horses left, so we can't bury everyone in the fire."
A knight in glazed white armor walked up to McClandall, dressed in flawless white. "You must carry out the orders of the Prime Minister."
"Fuck you Prime Minister!" Half of the big man's face was covered in blood, "Get me something to drink!" ”
A member of the Kings Guard handed over a cup, and the big man spit it out after taking a sip, throwing it out with his backhand. "Water? Fuck your water! Bring the wine! ”
He can't do it, McLandall can only face reality, this injury, this fire...... He's gone, and I'll have to find someone else to lead the team. Who's on? The fear of the big men shook the hearts of the soldiers, and if no one came forward, everyone would be afraid.
There was another loud crash in the distance. Above the city walls, the dark sky glowed with emerald green and orange glow, how long could the gates last?
It's crazy, he thought, but it's better to be crazy than to fail, and failure means death and disgrace. "Very well, I'll lead the assault."
If he thought that this would make the big man feel ashamed and courageous, he was wrong, and the big man just laughed: "You? ”
McClandell saw the suspicion on everyone's faces. "Yes, I, I'm the former prime minister, and I'm also a fighting force!"
The Knight of Enod followed McClandall back on his horse. "All the team!" He shouted.
His horse wore neck armor and a scarlet curtain, the back of his body covered with a reddish silk curtain, and his high saddle was gilded, and the Kings guards handed him helmets and shields, made of oak.
He rode around and looked at the men and horses who remained here, only a few responded, and before fifty they sat on their horses, their pale eyes no different from those of the big ones, and he looked at the recruits and mercenaries with contempt. "I, as the former prime minister of the Imperial Command, are still fighting here at this time, and you have only failed a few sorties and are languishing, are you worse than a powerless bastard like me?"
These words greatly humiliated them, and one of the knights mounted and joined without a helmet, and the two mercenaries followed without saying a word, and the number of people increased, and in the meantime the gates shook again, and in a short time McClandell's ranks doubled, and he used words to trap them, and the former prime minister went to battle, and you must follow!
"I'm not going to shout long live the king," McClandell told them, "it's your cities that have been breached, your homes destroyed, your gates to be broken, come with me, and slaughter this offal!" McClandall drew his sword, turned his horse's head, and charged toward the assault.