Chapter 394: Are we going to lose the city right from the start? (Two chapters in one)

"Just let them leave like that?"

Martin looked at the wealthy businessmen carrying bags of various sizes and asked Armand in confusion.

You know, if we keep these wealthy businessmen's guards, we can at least add a hundred more soldiers, and they are all elite sword and shield soldiers.

Armand stood on the wall, coldly watching the wealthy businessmen passing by below: "Those who cannot be kept, rather than letting them hinder the city, it is better to expel them."

If it weren't for the lack of time, Armand would have wanted to just map them all out.

For a small group of stubborn elements, only violence and physical elimination can completely put an end to their crimes.

From the Gulag to Jeanne d'Arc, Armand has experienced this truth more than once.

These wealthy city councillors dressed in silk and gold brocade, sitting on velvet cushioned chairs in the city hall every day, should be the most representative of Koike City.

But they would rather flee and leave, abandoning all the property, shops and workshops in the city, than spend money to hire nearby armed farmers and knights, or stay and hold out.

Not only this time, but also the last time he was thrown into the cellar, those city councilors who came from wealthy businessmen firmly chose to stand on the side of the bishop.

The heart-wrenching incident of throwing the body into the cellar was actually initiated by the shop assistant and the bricklayer.

These wealthy businessmen simply fled before the Imperial Order Company arrived, returned after the Imperial Order Company left, and once again became city councilors by making peace with the church.

Even today, it is still these resilient ordinary workers and citizens of Xiaochi Town who remain firmly to defend their hometown and never give up.

They used their remaining money to customize leather armor, helmets, and sun sticks, and sewed leather robes and short boots for the rest of their comrades free of charge.

Martin still remembered that he had persuaded these city councilors to stay, but the result he got was -

"Excuse me, Mr. Martin, but I don't think it's possible to defend Xiaochi City in its current state."

"Do you really think you are a bishop? You are nothing but a dog of the monastery of Blago!"

The hot, steamy wind blew across Martin's face, making his heart damp and stuffy, and sticky sweat stuck to his clothes on the surface of his body.

"What a irony." Martin couldn't help but sigh, "Mr. Richelieu, can His Majesty Horn really arrive in time?"

"I'm sure, I'm sure." Armand looked at the Lona River under the dark clouds. Countless rocky islands in the river cut through the silky river water, revealing silvery-white waves.

Under the dark clouds, the silver-gray fields were broken into pieces among the undulating hills, and the direction in which the clouds scattered and flowed was the east.

That was the direction of Jeanne d'Arc. He seemed to have heard the sound of horse hooves and footsteps hitting the ground.

"You should go back to Jeanne d'Arc before the noble coalition arrives." Martin thought for a long time before he opened his sticky mouth with difficulty. "This is not your enemy, and this is not your hometown. Staying here is the mission of our Juano faction."

Without answering Martin immediately, Armand just lowered his head and stroked the thin black and red monk's robe on his body.

When I first put on the priest's robe, it was so loose and ill-fitting.

After all, compared to Cosset's fat body, Armand is still too thin.

At first, Cosset would put a piece of fat in Armand's bowl every day, trying to make him fatter, but Cosset was still so thin and short.

But after old Kosei died, perhaps hatred could really make people grow flesh and blood, and the clothes gradually became a fit.

Just like how people call him, compared to the former Armand, the people of Cassia are more accustomed to calling him by his Christian name - Richelieu.

This was the name left to him by his uncle, the godfather who baptized him. It was the most elegant name given to him by the old butcher who had been vulgar all his life.

"No, I won't leave." Armand's palm slid across the surface of the robe. "That is my enemy, and this is also my mission."

Martin felt somehow relieved when he heard Armand's words.

You know, organizing the city guards, joint military attacks, including this series of actions to concentrate the strength of the entire city, were mostly done by Armand.

Martin's role at most is to provide spiritual benefit.

"Get ready, close the city gates when it gets dark..." Martin didn't finish his words and looked towards the horizon.

In the network of fields and streams, he saw Andrew running madly alone.

All the guards around him disappeared, and the carriage full of money was nowhere to be seen.

Like a savage or a beggar, he was running as fast as he could, as if he was escaping from the jaws of some terrible beast.

At the moment when Martin narrowed his eyes, Andrew's embarrassed running movement suddenly froze, and then his whole body fell to the ground with a bang.

The blood drew a glaring red streak on the ground, and behind him, the tail end of the feather arrow was still trembling.

"Dududu-"

"Dangdangdang——"

The sound of trumpets and the ringing of bells in the bell tower rang out at the same time, and the shaking of the ground almost made the wealthy businessmen at the city gate turn pale.

They all looked towards the northwest, where the wealthy businessmen and their servants were fleeing for their lives.

It was naturally impossible for them to be chased by bandits, so there was only one possibility left.

"Lord Musak's army!" screamed a wealthy businessman.

Perhaps they have a good personal relationship with Count Mussac, but this does not mean that the Count can fully control all the troops.

Even if these vanguard cavalrymen chopped off the heads of the wealthy businessmen, Count Mussac would not say anything.

After all, the wealthy businessmen had no objections, so keeping silent meant they agreed.

The wealthy businessmen and their guards who had gathered at the gate were scattered with a bang, some fleeing desperately into the city, some fleeing out of the city.

"Get out, get out!"

"Don't crowd the passages, don't block the gates!"

The veterans skillfully drew their swords and pointed at the guards and servants of the wealthy merchant who were trying to climb over the barricades, and roared at them.

But these servants were used to being rude and ignored the old soldiers' advice. They just held the crossbars of the barricades and rushed into the city.

The old soldier took a few steps forward and punched a guard who had climbed over the barricades in the face. The man fell to the ground with a scream.

As soon as he began to scream, the armed sword cut his throat, and blood splattered everywhere.

After dealing with the group of wealthy businessmen who were causing trouble, the soldiers, under the leadership of the veterans, no longer stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do, but hurriedly drove away the ordinary civilians who were blocking the door.

The sound of horse hooves gradually approached. Under the dark clouds in the sky, the colorful knights were so conspicuous, and the family emblem representing Count Mussac was embroidered on more than half of the flags.

The image of the two-headed lion was roaring, but even though it was almost in front of them, the gate of Xiaochi City showed no sign of closing.

Armand hurried down the wall, wearing a chain mail over his priest's robe, and asked a militia captain, "Why is the gate still open?" "Two carriages were knocked over, and the gate was stuck."

"Why don't you go and fix it quickly?" After the shock of falling into an ice cave, Martin was so anxious that he jumped up and down.

Originally, they were no match for the coalition of nobles and had to rely on the new city walls built with mortar for defense.

This is terrible. The battle hasn’t even started yet and the enemy’s vanguard has taken over the city.

Armand held the sweaty Martin, but his face remained calm: "Move the barricades forward, and tell the ordinary people nearby to go outside the city. Anyone who dares to approach will be killed on the spot. All natural priests, load the holy guns immediately."

After the order was given, seven or eight soldiers picked up the two ends of the barricade, turned their bodies sideways and moved forward like crabs.

But before they could move two steps, they heard a whooshing sound, and as soon as they looked up, a flying arrow pierced the chest of one of the soldiers.

The soldier looked down at the arrow stuck in his chest and was about to speak, but the blood kept flowing out of his throat, leaving him unable to utter a word.

Covering his chest, the soldier fell to his knees and hit the ground with his whole body.

"Raise your shield!" The mercenary veteran reacted and shrank his body, raising the round shield above his head.

The rest of the soldiers raised their round shields one after another. Almost at the same time, arrows rained down from the sky, piercing into the round shields with whistling sounds.

Wood chips were flying everywhere and arrows were sweeping past them. At this time, they probably knew that these were most likely the Kush Knights under Count Musak.

During the pause in the rain of arrows, the old mercenary poked half of his head out from behind the round shield.

But between the hills and the fields, yellow, green, black and red cloaks were fluttering, and hundreds of knights in short-sleeved robes were rushing over.

Any wealthy businessmen or civilians who had escaped from the city would be chopped down by these knights with their swords.

Both sides of the road were instantly filled with the corpses of various city councilors, servants, and civilians. Carrion hawks circled low in the sky, waiting for this early dinner.

By the time they rushed to about 200 meters in front of the city gate, the knights' bodies and armors were already covered with blood spots.

"Close the door!"

"Close the door! Why don't you close the door?"

The civilians and soldiers nearby were all shouting, but the overturned carriage could not be moved in a short time.

What's more, when the wealthy businessmen fled, they took the horses with them but left behind a lot of debris, which further hindered the militia's efforts to move the carriages.

They grabbed the edge of the carriage, their faces flushed, and only moved the carriage less than half a meter bit by bit.

But in just this short period of time, the opponent's commander had already discovered their abnormality.

These Kush knights even changed to aggressive footsteps and rushed towards the city gate frantically.

Originally they thought it was just a reconnaissance mission, but unexpectedly they had an unexpected reward. This huge benefit actually belonged to the Kush Knights? !

"Charge!" the knights' leader roared.

After crossing a distance of more than 200 meters, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of Kush knights appeared in front of everyone.

The leading knight raised his sword high and slashed it downwards, blood spurted out, and the militiamen from Xiaochi City who were coming towards him were hit in the face and fell down with their heads covered.

The rest of the knights were waving their swords, and under the high-speed impact, these militiamen were broken open. Seven or eight of them fell down as their swords were swung.

The remaining nearly one hundred soldiers waved their sun sticks and spears, stabbing and sweeping randomly, but they were unable to cause any casualties to the knights.

The knights were still charging towards the city gate. Killing through the infantry blocking the way was not a big deal. The most difficult thing was to capture the city gate in time and hold out until friendly forces arrived.

There are only ten meters left to the city gate. As long as we cross these ten meters, we will achieve the long-awaited victory!
The bell rang louder and more rapid. When the knight leader raised his sword and was about to chop, he subconsciously shrank his neck.

Then a huge force came from his forehead, and he tilted his head back uncontrollably, feeling a sharp pain in his forehead.

The personal guard knight beside him let out a howl of agony, then fell off his horse, holding his neck.

Friends who are often shot at know that this feeling is like a lead bullet gnawing at his helmet or bouncing off the slope.

Reaching out and touching the dents on his helmet and the hot metal powder, the leader was obviously angry, but he still had some doubts.

What was that just now? A new spell?

"Bang——" The neat sound of gunfire echoed in the city gate.

The Kush knights who were charging suddenly lost their momentum. The three leading knights spurted blood from their chests and fell off their horses.

In the doorway, a dozen natural priests and holy musketeers led by Armand put down their holy muskets and began to reload them.

Amid the awe-inspiring gazes of others, Armand showed no sign of being happy. He quickly loaded the Holy Lance, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

The Kush knights on the opposite side were stunned, not understanding what was happening, whether to continue attacking or retreating.

After just a few seconds of confusion, the old mercenaries caught up with them. They immediately shouted, "Surround them, surround them, don't just stand there!"

The surrounding militiamen woke up as if from a dream, organized themselves again, and hit them on the head with their sun sticks.

Naturally, these knights would not stop their horses and engage in close combat with them. Instead, they would immediately turn their horses around, try to create a short distance, and then charge again.

This time, the charge is to completely defeat these overconfident clowns before the gate closes.

"Charge again!"

"Your Excellency, listen, are these the reinforcements sent by Lord Sinimon?"

"There are cavalry approaching rapidly from the southeast."

The untimely sound of horse hooves was heard, and the bells and horns overhead rang out once again.

The faces of the soldiers near the doorway turned pale. They hadn't repelled this wave of extraordinary knights yet, and another wave came. How should they fight this battle?

Holy Lord, are you really no longer going to protect your pious little city of Chi?
Strangely, the knights who were originally entangled at the city gate were now in chaos. They neither continued to attack nor fired arrows to harass.

It was as if he had been struck dumb, standing there in a daze, without any sign of moving.

"Boom——"

What was that? The wealthy businessmen who were watching raised their heads, but although the sky was gloomy, there was no sign of rain.

Gazing into the distance, they were shocked to find that under the broken clouds, a few faint rays of evening light were falling on the fluttering flags in the distance.

The Valkyrie-like knight raised the battle flag in his hand high. Among the seven or eight black and red flags, the image of the Holy Grail was so dazzling.

"It's the Savior Army. The Savior Army's reinforcements have arrived!"

(End of this chapter)