I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 225 Berry's Tactics

"Damn it, there's a heavy crossbow on the other side with incredible firepower that can actually penetrate wooden stakes, but the other light crossbows are just average. With archers suppressing them, it's not a big problem."

Clovis, who had retreated to his tent, turned his head. The first attack had caused 10% casualties to his army, but it was actually not a big deal, as the dead were mostly peasant soldiers.

Berry leaned on his knight's sword, his eyes closed and silent.

“I just observed that Luke doesn’t have many soldiers. As long as we can break down the city gate, he’ll be dead!” Clovis wiped his knight’s sword, seemingly trying to calm himself down after the retreat.

"You make it sound so easy, but the point is that all they need to do is concentrate the excrement and crossbow bolts at the city gate, and that will be enough to make us unable to move an inch. How are we supposed to break through the city gate? Don't tell me we'll use human lives to build it up."

Charman, a burly fat man, sat at the lower end of the table, sullenly stuffing a piece of black bread into his mouth. He took over the conversation, saying that his peasant soldiers had died the most during the recent siege, which made him very depressed.

Their army is not a suicide squad; if the casualties are too great, not only will the losses be severe, but the morale will probably collapse.

Clovis was speechless for a moment.

“I have a way,” Berry suddenly said.

"Oh? My lord? Do you have any ideas?"

……

"Have Evan's funeral arrangements been made?"

"Yes, sir, as you instructed, their family received sufficient compensation, and Peter was allowed to perform the rites for the monk in his stead."

Luc leaned against the edge of the battlement and nodded wearily.

"Speaking of which, he was one of the first people to follow me besides Ward Village, right? I heard his wife is only recently pregnant?"

"Yes. Only his wife is left in their family."

"I'll exempt their family from taxes for a year, and I'll go visit them in person later."

Unlike Berry, who had a large and well-equipped army, Luc was practically incapable of fighting.

Necessary compensation and benefits must be provided.

……

The attack ceased in the morning, and Berry did not launch another attack until the afternoon.

Only the sound of logging could be heard from the south.

"Is Berry planning to build an even bigger battering ram?"

Ryan kept a close eye on the Berry camp; the existing battering rams had already been left at the city gate.

"It should be more than that. Although I despise Berry, I must say he is a decent military baron, and I'm afraid he's trying to find a way to break through our defenses."

Rang shook his head. "But perhaps they are indeed building more robust siege engines, such as those that can withstand sewage."

To keep the sewage boiling, someone inside the castle was constantly cooking it with charcoal.

Peter had somehow climbed up the city wall and walked up to Luc: "If you're worried that the dung water isn't powerful enough, I know a devil's secret recipe."

“I saw a record at the Aleppo Academy that limestone powder made by boiling it at high temperatures can be mixed with boiling water to turn it into water of divine punishment.”

"Water of divine punishment?"

"Limestone boiled down to ash"

"Isn't this quicklime?!"

Watching Peter slowly walk away, Luc suddenly realized that he had been so focused on smelting iron with limestone that he had almost forgotten about quicklime.

Quicklime is a good thing. It can not only be used as a building material, but it also has its own burning ability. When it is mixed with water, it will boil and burn even more.

Without a word, Luke said, "Go, immediately tell Jason to boil some quicklime!"

The two groups waited for their new weapons to appear. Berry's men had been cutting down trees, and as dusk approached, he let out a sigh of relief: "We may have to postpone our attack today."

"Maybe," Luc said, frowning.

Is Berry planning a siege?

As dusk approached, the sun slowly set in the southwest.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone brightly, casting a beautiful glow upon Knightsburg, located in the north.

Luke suddenly reached out to shield his eyes from the somewhat dazzling sunlight.

Ryan and the others blinked repeatedly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable from the stinging sunlight.

"I've never felt the sunlight was that dazzling before. Is it because I'm standing on the city wall?" Ryan said, puzzled.

Hearing Ryan's complaints, Luc was suddenly startled. Wait, Sunset!
"Woo——"

Just then, the siege horn sounded from Berry's camp. Luc immediately cursed, "Damn it, so this is where they were waiting for me!"

"Reorganize the battering rams and follow me to break through this wooden fortress!"

Clovis drew his longsword and, while directing the battering rams covered with thatch to advance, ordered some serfs to carry bundles of ash wood to the front of the Knights' Castle and set them on fire.

The next moment, the mountain wind blew the thick smoke toward Knight's Castle.

Berry stood behind the army, a cold smile on his face.

Charman is right. Although the garrison at Luke is small, they only need to concentrate at one corner of the city gate to prevent the enemy from getting close.

Conversely, if you can harass the defenders and keep them busy, you can take the opportunity to storm the castle!

Since Luke has many shields and arrows are ineffective in harassing him, Beryl plans to use some external force!
Ash wood produces intense, thick smoke when burned, which is pungent and acrid. This is the type of wood that Luc used to kill rats.

As the smoke engulfed Knightsburg like a giant black python, Clovis, with the setting sun behind him, joined Charman and the others in another assault on the city.

"Cough cough cough! Damn it, bring up the soaked linen right now!"

On the walls of Knightsburg, Luke, shrouded in smoke, tightly covered his mouth and nose, but was still coughing incessantly from the smoke. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Berry's army approaching and quickly told Little Maiman and the others to get some cloth to soak in water.

"Wait, change it to vinegar!"

"Master, they're closing in!"

The setting sun and the white smoke severely hampered the visibility of Luke's soldiers, forcing them to gather above the city gate with their shields raised. At that moment, Berry's battering ram appeared before them once again.

Several private soldiers in leather armor personally carried the new battering ram forward. Luke drew his bow and took the lives of two serfs who were carrying obstacles, but he could not change the fate of the city gate being attacked again.

"Where's the excrement? Scald these bastards to death!"

Crash.

Ryan poured the excrement again, but due to violent coughing, he lost his grip and spilled it everywhere. The only droplet was absorbed by the thatch supporting the rammed earth.

"Hey! You think we'll make the same mistake twice? Once I storm in, I'll turn your heads into goblets!"

Clovis grinned bloodthirstyly, using the straw for protection, and grabbed a heavy wood-chopping axe. He fiercely hacked at the city gate, and as the gaps widened, the gate was finally smashed open with a deafening roar.

"Charge into Wooden Castle!!"

Clovis laughed heartily and took the lead, but his laughter stopped abruptly after only two steps.

Just a few steps ahead, there was another city gate!
Clovis, who had never seen such a complex design, was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage.

"Mongrel!!"

"Sir, here's some linen for you!"

Just as the door broke down, Robert finally arrived with linen. Luc quickly had everyone tie it to their mouths and noses. The sour smell was a bit unpleasant, but it successfully blocked the choking smoke.

"Where's the quicklime?"

Clovis was furious, but he was not discouraged and continued to ram the second city gate. Hearing the booming sound of the impact, Luc turned his head and shouted.

"coming!"

As soon as Luke finished speaking, Jason ran towards the city wall with a bucket of quicklime. The ashes spilled from the bucket accidentally onto his hands, and he instantly grimaced in pain.

"Very good, Paul, quickly mix them into the sewage!"

"Let Hans guard the city gate!"

"Gilger, cover with your shields, watch out for that damned archer, Ryan Miller, follow me and let those bastards taste the murderous intent of Kong!"

The murder hole was located above the two city gates. Luke and Ryan held crossbows, while Miller gripped the eight-foot spear and thrust it downwards through the narrow opening.

The sudden attack instantly took away two unarmored peasant soldiers. One of them, a man wearing leather armor and a hood, was even impaled in the head by a heavy crossbow bolt. The bolt, falling from the sky, pierced directly through the top of his head and into his brain. It is unknown which bone it touched, but it caused his eyeballs to bulge out, resulting in a gruesome death.

"There's someone overhead!!"

The narrow doorway was only big enough for seven or eight people to enter. The terrified soldiers hurriedly raised their spears and jabs and stabbed wildly. But the horror of the murder hole lay in this: the soldiers above could aim their weapons at the hole, but only highly skilled martial artists could accurately find the hole below.

"Aim your spears at the straw on the battering ram and stab it to pieces!"

Hans and Jean moved stones to block the entrance, with Hans using all his strength to hold the city gate shut.

"Damn it! What's that thing at the doorway? It's so sturdy!"

Clovis also noticed the murder hole above his head, sweat trickling down his forehead. He had never imagined that this castle would be so difficult to conquer.

This is utter garbage! Did they hire engineers from Rome specifically to build this?!

(End of this chapter)