Volume 1: The Rise of Elanhill Chapter 0030: Take Refuge
"They are worthy of being the most capable army in the north... Even after two rounds of volleys, they refused to surrender." Looking at the collapsed city wall in the distance, Chris sighed on horseback.
Just as Desel had expected, upon learning that the earthen fort had been breached by Elanhill, the reinforcements from North County immediately retreated back to their own territory. Then the mayor of North County, nicknamed Lord Suifeng, sent a letter expressing his willingness to pay tribute.
However, Chris did not give him any chance. He directly led his troops to surround the North County Castle, making the lord completely give up the idea of continuing to live a lazy life.
What happened next was very simple. As soon as the cannons were fired, North County declared surrender and changed its flag. No matter how the officers urged their soldiers, no one was willing to face the terrible "magic". Soon someone opened the city gate, and Lord Follow the Wind became Chris's prisoner.
Chris worked almost non-stop, leaving Wageron in North County to clean up the mess and stabilize the people's hearts, and he led the 1st Regiment to charge towards the vast sea.
This territory called Hanhai originally had no border with Seris City. It was actually a cordon set up by the Alante Empire in the north to monitor and guard against the nomadic grassland empire in the north.
Therefore, Hanhai is actually a military fortress. Its combat readiness is the best among the northern territories, and its soldiers’ combat effectiveness is also the highest—of course, Chris is also the most difficult to fight.
After hearing that the earth fort and Beijun collapsed within a day, the other side did not make any lucky decisions, but concentrated all their forces and retreated to their own castle.
"This Lord Wilkes in front of me... is the most capable lord I have ever seen... Facing the cannons, he can even hold on. He is such a tenacious commander." Chris exclaimed as he looked at the Hanhai soldiers on the distant city wall who were repairing the city wall during the gaps in Chris's artillery fire.
Along the way, most of his opponents either died under his gunfire or surrendered without any chance of fighting back. The only ones who impressed him the most were Lawrence of the Ferry City and Lord Wilkes in front of him.
Seeing the other side methodically defending their castle under the artillery attack, Chris even began to admire talents. He had too few generals to use, so when he met one who could be used, his first reaction was to recruit him.
"Send a more alert soldier over and shout to the city to ask them to surrender!" Chris pointed his whip at the castle in the distance and ordered Walter, the commander of the 1st Regiment.
The Captain Walter in front of him was actually just an unknown little character. He had always been a small captain in the infantry of Seris Castle. His biggest task was just to guard the city gate and do miscellaneous tasks.
However, Walter stood out because he had read books and had a very strong learning ability. As a traditional middle-class man in decline, Walter received a good education when he was a child, which is his capital for leading Chris's main 1st Regiment today.
He is also a model set up by Chris, a non-traditional command talent. As this model, Walter also applied the knowledge he learned in combat and became the world's first generation of technical commanders.
Of course, he and Wageron's adjutant Corea were entrusted with important tasks, which also indirectly reflected how lacking in talent there is in the military command system of the Principality of Elanhill.
"Yes! Your Majesty!" After hearing the order, Walter issued various combat orders without any hesitation. Everything seemed to be in order: "Stop firing the artillery! Send someone to persuade them to surrender!"
After the chaos of the Earth Fortress Battle, the quick-learning Captain Walter was no longer as panicked as when he first commanded the battle. Just like snipers are fed by bullets, famous generals are just monsters fed by battles.
The third round of artillery fire that was ready was ordered to stop. A loud-voiced grenadier groped his way to the edge of the arrow range on the castle and began to loudly persuade the soldiers inside to lay down their weapons and surrender: "Put down your weapons and surrender! It's not worth dying in this battle!"
What answered him was a round of arrows fired from Hanhai Castle. They were not dense, but very resolute. It seemed that the opponent's archers finally found the opportunity to fire, and fired two rounds of feather arrows in one breath.
Unfortunately, no arrows flew to where the grenadier was hiding, not even to the point where he was standing. In the face of the roar of the cannon, such a counterattack was not even a respite.
The grenadier stood up with disdain, patted his uniform twice with disdain, and turned back to his own team. After experiencing two victories, he already had the pride of being an Elanhill grenadier, and naturally he had contempt for those opponents who collapsed at the first touch.
Just when Chris failed to persuade the defenders in Hanhai Castle to surrender, on a hillside at the distant edge of the battlefield, a pair of eyes were looking at Ailan Hill's attacking forces.
A middle-aged man with a neat beard, wearing leather armor and carrying a long sword, rode heroically on a group of black war horses. He was alone, with a small bag hanging behind the saddle.
He took the water bag from his waist, uncorked it and drank a mouthful of the water inside, then wiped the corners of his mouth with his hand. He hung the water bag back on his waist, gently squeezed the horse's belly, and rode forward, galloping towards the army of Ailan Hill.
At the same time, inside the city wall of Hanhai City, Lord Wilkes held his sword and looked worriedly through a battlement at the terrifying weapons spewing white smoke on the horizon.
He had always been good at defense when facing the nomadic peoples in the north. The soldiers of Hanhai were also very good at defense, because the most thing they did was to defend their city when the nomadic cavalry moved south.
As long as they hold out for a few dozen days, the cavalry on the flanks will, under the cover of the soldiers from Beijun, launch a counterattack against the nomadic peoples - this tactic has been used for hundreds of years and has not had any major flaws.
But who could have imagined that in just over ten days, a rising principality, Elanhill, would be able to successively capture the Earth Fort and North County?
"Alas..." Wilkes sighed barely perceptibly as he stroked the solid battlement. This time he had no reinforcements, so how could the soldiers of Elanhill outside the city retreat? After thinking about it for a whole morning, he still hadn't figured out the answer to this question.
"Sir!" His adjutant came over holding his sword, his armor making a pleasant rustling sound. There was still some dust on his face, which made him look a little embarrassed. "The other side sent someone to persuade us to surrender, but we scared them away."
"We have no reinforcements this time, Bourjois." Wilkes shook his head and sighed to his adjutant: "The enemy outside the city will not retreat... We... can't hold on for much longer."
Every lord has his own confidants and subordinates. Lord Wilkes' most capable officer is his deputy, Bourjois. This deputy commander of the Hanhai Territory is also well-known and a powerful figure who can fight tough battles.
However, no matter how powerful he was, he had no way to deal with cannons he had never seen before. He could only grit his teeth and hold on to the city wall, hoping for a miracle to happen.
" Sir , it's no wonder that the enemy has this kind of weapon, so it's no wonder that Earthen Fort and North County were defeated one after another..." Bourjois held his sword and said to Wilkes, "But we can still hold on..."
But... what's the point of insisting? Even if the other side doesn't have weapons like cannons, after losing its allies Earth Fort and North County, the isolated and helpless Hanhai will not force Ailan Hill to retreat. If the stalemate continues, it will undoubtedly be a disaster for the smaller Hanhai.
Their only hope of victory was to rely on the strong castle to hold out until winter came. When the temperature dropped, the troops stationed in the wild would naturally suffer and retreat without a fight.
What makes people despair is that... the enemy has cannons that can demolish the city walls. Let alone holding out until winter, if the enemy has sufficient ammunition and launches an all-out attack, Hanhai Castle may not even be able to hold out this afternoon.
"Let's wait a little longer... maybe a miracle will happen." Wilkes frowned, looked at the Elanhill army formation in the distance which had been silent for a while, and after a while he squeezed out these words.
On the other side, Chris, who was preparing for a new round of attack, received an interesting report: someone wanted to see him.
This was really a new thing, because this happened on the battlefield, and his army had just been bombarding the enemy's castle. The sound of artillery that resounded through the sky, when heard by ordinary people, had already fled to the mountains and forests. Who would take the initiative to approach him?
"The other party is carrying a sword... wearing leather armor... and has a neat beard. He looks very energetic." The soldier who came to report described the other party's appearance as best as possible, which made Chris more interested.
"Let him come!" Chris rode on his horse, tapping his fingers on the hilt of his sword, waiting for the other party to come with great interest. Behind him were a dozen loyal Seris cavalrymen, and in front of him were hundreds of rifles, so he was not afraid of any tricks from the other party.
So, he calmly watched the other party approach him step by step with his horse. This middle-aged man was not tall, but he gave people a very elegant feeling. He stood in front of Chris with his horse and sword, and said lightly: "My name is Mordrel, I come to seek refuge with Grand Duke Ailan Hill."
