Chapter 161: Long Bridge, Bloody Road! (Part )

The town hall of Jeanne d'Arc was once again brightly lit, but this time, the people sitting in the hall that resembled the Council of El were not the citizen representatives who had been woken up overnight, but the honorable Duke.

By the window, Bamanda was also sitting on a velvet chair, covering her mouth and nose with a feather fan.

The Duke of Kush, dressed in his pajamas, angrily yelled at Zanderbeck, "When did I ever say that I would turn all the fifteen-year-old children in Jeanne d'Arc into wine?"

"But that's what they say."

"Also, when will the imperial decree kill them all?"

"I don't know either. Maybe we pressed them too hard before, and they hold a grudge against us..."

In fact, even if the Duke wanted to kill all of Jeanne d'Arc, he couldn't do it because he simply didn't have the strength to do so.

Not to mention the insane act of turning all fifteen-year-old children in Joan of Arc into wine.

Even if he did, so much wine would only cause the price to plummet, and the shelf life of blue-blood wine is very short, so wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Besides, he is a distributor, not a manufacturer.

What about the Imperial Order Company?

Prince Condai was a man who was quite careful about his reputation. He believed that the massacre in Xiaochi City was pure nonsense, and that it was fabricated by the citizens and small workshop owners who were robbed and extorted by mercenaries to frame him.

Besides, the Duke knew when he collected taxes that the refugees were poor and there was no money to be made from them. Didn’t Prince Condé know that?

The reason Prince Condé came to Château Jeanne d'Arc was first to respond to the church's decree to capture Horn and give an explanation to the Pope, and secondly, he came to make a fortune.

At most, he would bring harm to the local citizens, businessmen and armed peasant landowners. Didn’t you see that the well-informed stonemasons had already fled to the countryside to hide?
"So what do we do now? They are already at the canal."

Dane looked at his wife Bamanda, who had half of her face hidden behind a feather fan.

She also didn't expect that her extreme pressure would backfire, mainly because she didn't expect Horn to not escape from Jeanne d'Arc, but to expose the Blue Blood Orphanage in public.

After the floods, taxes, bonds and food prices exploded continuously, riots among refugees were still expected by Bamanda, but it was indeed unexpected that they could mobilize nearly 10,000 young and strong people to arrive at Jeanne d'Arc.

When the Bloody Winter Riot broke out in France, 30 peasants set out from their homes and arrived at the capital to besiege it, but only 10 were left.

The remaining Puxin peasants, after being enraged, simply abandoned their teammates and ran away without looking back.

It is a miracle that these refugees were able to arrive safely.

Should we just take a step back or bribe the other party's leaders and representatives?
After much deliberation, Bamanda made the final decision: "During the Blood Winter Uprising in France, we sacrificed 50000 peasants and 3000 citizens. You should also be aware of this!"

The rioters had to be killed. There was no other way but to kill them. Originally, we wanted to kill them slowly, but once the Blue Blood incident was exposed, both sides fell out and there was almost no room for mediation.

The leader of the other side is Saint Sun Horn, a diehard who is on the church's wanted list.

The only way is to kill the other party.

"Well, Frisiska, I appoint you as the full authority..."

"No." Before Dane could finish his words, Bamanda interrupted him forcefully, "We have to stay here and command. If we leave, the local soldiers will most likely be turned against us or become deserters."

This is the valuable experience the Franks have gained after suppressing countless mob rebellions and secret party uprisings - outsiders are always more trustworthy than locals.

"You were not there, so they thought you couldn't see their betrayal. Don't underestimate this tiny difference, it often determines who will have the last laugh." The Duke immediately felt uneasy: "How about I go to the other side, closer to the castle?"

Giving a disdainful look to Dane, Bamanda sighed impatiently, "You go over there to deploy the defense. I'll supervise the battle on Citizens Road."

The couple agreed to separate, and Bamanda asked Frisiska beside them, "Where are they?"

“They went to the labor district first.”

"Quite clever." Bamanda muttered.

The entire Fort Joan of Arc was built along the canal, with the Citizens' Quarter, Craftsmen's Quarter and Workers' Quarter all parallel to the canal.

Each of the three blocks has a road, which is also parallel to the canal. The Civic Road is made of paved stone and the road is wide, suitable for cavalry.

The road on the side of the laborers and craftsmen was muddy and relatively narrow, and there was a canal on the side of the road, making it difficult for the cavalry to perform well.

Horn had another purpose for going to the labor area first. If he launched an attack directly along the longitudinal citizen road heading west, he would encounter cavalry on the wide and flat ground.

However, if they took the longitudinal road of the workers' and craftsmen's blocks, reached a position parallel to the castle and the town hall, and then launched an attack horizontally from the small paths and alleys between the houses, the entire process would be a narrow tactical position that would be unfavorable to cavalry.

Although you will still encounter knights in front of the city square, it is better than being attacked by them in waves on Civic Road where there is nowhere to hide.

At this moment, according to the original plan, Horn called a halt to the huge army, and the army of tens of thousands of people slowly stopped.

According to information obtained by local spies from a cousin citizen who wished to remain anonymous.

The Duke and Duchess were at the Town Hall, and the Civic Avenue was filled with mercenaries and hundreds of knights.

This actually fits with Horn's prediction of the Duke's strength. There are more than 2000 but less than 3000 infantrymen, of which about half are night watchmen with poor combat effectiveness and the other half are mercenaries with good combat effectiveness.

The most important thing is the nearly two hundred extraordinary knights. As long as those extraordinary knights can be dealt with, the only thing left is to capture the Duke and the castle.

Amid the flames rising into the sky, a long, thick line formed on the chain bridge above the canal, and the forest of spears reflected the moonlight, the firelight, and the red light in the eyes of the refugees.

Thick iron cables lift the thick wooden plank bridge, which has four piers and is about 110 yards away from the citizens' neighborhood.

It’s a pity that what Horn could think of, Bamanda also thought of.

"Beep, beep, beep--" the rapid whistle echoed in the night sky.

"Enemy, the enemy is coming!"

But at this moment, standing on the roof of a house, a spy sent out shouted loudly towards Horn.

As soon as he finished speaking, a crossbow arrow was shot out. Although he subconsciously dodged, the arrow still pierced his left cheek and came out from the right cheek.

The spy tumbled off the roof on the spot.

The sound of orderly footsteps was heard, and the reflection of metal shone in the darkness.

On the cobblestone road along the river in the opposite citizen block, from the darkness of the streets and alleys, large numbers of mercenaries wearing blue and black woolen jackets poured out of the alleys, holding up their spears and axes.

(End of this chapter)