Vol 7 Chapter 319: The Fortified Battle of Gahel (Part 1)

The Musketeer Uomoto sat angrily on the platform of a well, passing by him from time to time to look at him, or screaming for him not to get in the way while fetching water, which made Uomoto even more angry.
Uomoto didn't understand what he had done wrong.
Uomoto, who happily put the flag on his feet, not only did not get the reward he imagined, but he was also inexplicably relieved of his position as the small flag officer of the Musketeer.
Then Uomoto became a lonely ghost who was unreasonable. He tried to return to the original army, but the officer told him that he had not only been relieved of his duties, but also was removed from the Musketeers.
Suddenly he became a superfluous person and did not take him anywhere, but he was still a soldier in the army of Castilian, and he had to serve the army of the kingdom for at least 4 months according to the period of service.
This was a disaster for Uomoto, because he suddenly discovered that because he did not belong to the troops, he even had a problem with eating.
Seeing the soldiers coming and going around, smelling the scented food and broth in their hands, Uomoto wanted to get in front of the food delivery truck to have a meal.
But these people will not work. According to the new logistics system, the Castilian army has just reorganized its logistics unit.
Unlike in the past, no one paid much attention to the logistics organization, this time even Gonzalo was seriously involved in the establishment of the new logistics unit.
The most obvious aspect of this change is that soldiers in the army have less time to get food, but they can eat more food.

It’s hard to imagine a situation where a force of several thousand people will eat in the same place, so maybe when the first soldier to receive the meal is about to be hungry, the last soldier may not have seen the meal delivery truck. shadow."
Although this is somewhat exaggerated, in fact the rigid logistics supplies in the past have indeed brought too many unnecessary materials and time waste to the army.
Now the soldiers get the same food quota according to different garrison locations and number of troops.
Of course, this is not perfect, and even soldiers in some places are noisy because they can't find food, but most of the troops did eat their food faster than before, which naturally made the soldiers very satisfied.
However, the number of soldiers gathered has decreased just because they ate separately, and naturally almost everyone knew each other. As a result, Uomoto's plan to eat a meal was lost.
Uomoto didn't know what went wrong. He remembered Master Gonzalo was surprised when he saw the flag, and then he was unabashedly happy. Everyone was excited about the precious trophy.
But then somehow, after listening to his description of the capture of the flag, Lord Gonzalo and the Regent suddenly walked aside and whispered.
Uomoto remembered that someone saw the two people arguing a little bit, and then looked at him, and then the two left one after another.
From then on, Uomoto suddenly became an unlucky person.
Uomoto is not stupid. He can vaguely guess what the two big men seem to be hitting him. This makes him nervous and a little anticipating, but after a long time he starts to worry whether the two adults have already treated him. forget.
This is not uncommon. Uomoto has heard of such a thing. Once there was a person who sent a letter for Isabella. At that time, the queen told this person to wait there and not move. After this, she wrote the reply and let him Take it back again.
But somehow Isabella later forgot about this matter, and the messenger did not dare to move, so he waited for two days and two nights alone in the ice and snow, until the queen finally remembered writing a reply. At that time, she suddenly told her that the messenger had died of pneumonia because of freezing in the snow for too long.
Uomoto didn't want to end up with such a result, so he asked people about what the Regent and Lord Gonzalo were doing, but obviously no one wanted to tell him the news, so the Musketeer Uomoto could only continue to be hungry. Waiting with his stomach.
In fact, Uomoto’s worries are not superfluous. Alexander and Gonzalo are indeed the soldiers "forgot".
In other words, they can't care about a small musketeer flag officer.
Although it was very hasty, but under the threat of the enemy's pressure, the Aragonese army strengthened the fortifications on the basis of the existing walls of Ghael.
A large number of stones were transported to the city’s head. These were used to reinforce the city walls and smashed weapons against the enemy after the start of the siege. Batches of houses were also forcibly demolished as materials for fortifications. I saw a gradually rising one. The high wall used to resist the enemy's infantry attack, Ferdinand's always gloomy face finally showed a little relief.
Ferdinand did not want to fight an Iberian siege of Bucharest between Gail and Alexander. He just wanted to wait until the reinforcements from Zaragoza arrived and immediately launched a counterattack. Although this building was built hastily, it still looks very Strong fortifications were his support against Alexander's army.
"I don't want you to be a hero. Drag the Gombray behind the wall so that he won't have time to retreat. Then we will succeed."
It is not unfounded that Ferdinand would say this. According to his calculations, Zaragoza’s reinforcements only need 2 to 3 days to reach Gahel, and apart from leaving enough defenders, Zaragoza is enough 4000 people can be sent.
By then his strength will be twice that of Alexander, and the coalition forces are bound to suffer heavy casualties during the offensive these days, and will be exhausted, and then it will be time for him to counterattack.
Maybe I can later say that all this is the strategy I have planned to withdraw from the enemy, so that the defeat of the town of Rome will have a completely reasonable explanation.
Ferdinand felt that he had time now to consider how to whitewash his previous failures. Although the Allied forces of Cassie were aggressive, he was no longer so nervous.
Alexander was also a little surprised by the fortifications built by the Aragonese army in just two days. He had to admit that people can indeed achieve extraordinary potential under extreme pressure.
This reminded him that the Theodore Wall of Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire had collapsed due to an earthquake. At that time, the Eastern Romans, who were threatened by the Bulgarians at any time, threatened with unbelievable speed. The efficiency repaired a large section of the ruined city wall in just 2 months, finally bringing Constantinople to a breeze.
But the walls of Gahel... Alexander could not help but shook his head slightly.
"Can our artillery destroy this wall?" Alexander asked a Castille officer next to him.
"His Royal Highness, this is not good for me. We must know that the power of the shells that our artillery can fire is not very powerful. If it is used to hit the enemy soldiers, there is no problem, but I don't know what will happen to the city wall."
Officer Luo Luo's wordy answer made Alexander secretly frowned. He couldn't help but think of his artillery general. If Gompati is here, with his familiarity with artillery performance and experience in multiple battles, he can give him no matter whether he can succeed or not. A clear answer, but now he can only find out after trying it.
Gonzalo noticed Alexander's faint unhappiness. He looked over and saw that Alexander didn't say anything. Gonzalo walked to the officer and patted him on the shoulder to signal him to leave. Then he whispered: "Your Highness, thank you. "
Hearing Gonzalo’s words, Alexander smiled. He knew that Gonzalo was thanking him for not blatantly scolding the officer because of his unhappiness. This was obviously a respect for Gonzalo’s commanding power, especially considering that this person had been In the Battle of Naples, King Alfonso II of Naples was blatantly deprived of his military power, and Alexander was more aware of his sensitivity in such matters.
Gonzalo’s gratitude for his failure to intervene in command makes Alexander feel that this is a good sign, or that the rebellious Castilian general has finally begun to treat himself as a courtier, otherwise he would not One would think that Alexander's restraint was his respect and support, but on the contrary, he would think that he deserved it.
But this did not change the fact that the walls of Gael were blocking them, so almost at the same time, both of them could not see the artillery not far away.
"We may be able to use these artillery to blow up the walls directly, Your Highness."
"It would be great if there were a few mortars, General."
The two people stood in front of the artillery looking at these weapons that had just exerted their immense power not long ago, and then they looked at the wall of Ghaal in the distance, and they couldn't help but become worried.
Alexander did not want to sacrifice his soldiers for no reason, because this army is the seed for him to build a real Spanish Empire and a powerful army. His future enemies cannot be underestimated. Among them, the Austrians will soon become his strong enemies. The French, who seems to be cooperating happily, don't know when they will become opponents.
This requires the rapid establishment of a powerful army. In this regard, although the Spanish army in history has indeed been invincible on the European continent, he does not want to reproduce the historical Spanish army.
Therefore, to build a modern armed force in the true sense almost needs to start from scratch, so that the current Sicilian army becomes a ready-made model.
And if the Sicilian army alone is preserved, it will undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among the Castilians, and he does not want the Sicilians to feel that they are special, because this will develop their bad habits. This is the future unified Spain. There is no benefit.
So if you want to maintain this balance, you must also consider minimizing the casualties of the entire coalition.
Alexander felt a little tired. He now really understands why many countries often make decisions that even laymen would find too stupid when formulating military plans. In fact, more consideration is not given to factors on the battlefield. , And more affected by various reasons outside the battlefield.
For example, now, he must also consider how to defeat the enemy and protect himself as soon as possible, instead of making a decision more in line with the battlefield situation like a pure battlefield commander.
"Ferdinand must be kept busy anyway," Gonzalo muttered while looking at the wall in the distance. "Only the one who keeps him busy will not think of any conspiracy."?
Alexander agrees to Gonzalo’s caution. If the reason why he has not lost in the contest with Ferdinand so far is because he knows the attitude of those around Ferdinand, then he is I am still very worried about Alexander.
Isabella is a queen with great talents, but whether it is her short life or other reasons, Ferdinand eventually became the winner of the two of them. This alone cannot underestimate him.
The artillery began shooting at a very close distance. In order to resist the cold guns and arrows on the city wall, Gonzalo ordered the demolition of some nearby houses to pick up simple fences and baffles.
This of course caused anger and resistance from the owner of the house. Gonzalo did not hesitate to order those people to be hanged, and this time Alexander came forward to pardon them.
Seeing those Aragonese who had escaped dead kneeling in front of Alexander with gratitude, Gonzalo was only poking his lips jokingly. He gradually knew what role he should play.
As always, he is still the unruly and grumpy military commander, but after all, unlike with Isabella, he must get along with Alexander in a new way.
The city walls that Gail had hurriedly reinforced were unusually strong, and because the coalition had no powerful siege guns, they could only concentrate on the smaller-caliber field guns, and attempted to blast through the weak areas of the walls of Gail.
The loud sound of a cannonball falling on the city wall spread into the city. The hearts of both soldiers and civilians were tightened and loosened with the terrible sound. After each roar, people's hearts tightened because they were afraid. Hearing the collapse of the city wall or the cheers of the enemies outside the city, and then when their hearts just relaxed a little, a new roar came again, and tension came again.
Outside the city, a group of coalition forces also stared nervously at the seemingly crumbling, but always able to hold on to the city wall. They knew that maybe the next moment they would swarm up and rush in through the collapsed gap to start with the enemy. Bloody killing, this kind of waiting is anxious and unbearable, even the veterans are looking forward to this waiting to pass quickly.
A commotion came from behind the gap left in the middle of the two lines, and the soldiers turned their heads one after another. They saw a strange-looking unit passing between them.
The leader of the team is a small flag officer who is not very old, but apparently a veteran. He is wearing a rustic-looking clothes, except for a belt that seems to be stuffed with ammunition in a leather bag. Nothing else.
If it weren’t for the exquisite workmanship in his hand, it’s obviously not a mass-produced special musket, and the flag soldier behind him holding a flag representing his status as a small flag officer, perhaps someone would treat him as a small in a nearby village. Farmers.
Uomoto walked forward with a heavy face. Not long ago, the regent finally remembered him, as a reward for exempting him from the remaining four months of military service.
This was originally a good thing, but Uomoto could not accept the next order.
After stuffing him with a flintlock that looks very special, the regent personally ordered him to be recruited again for his service, and he was also formally appointed as a small flag officer of the 1st Ranger Regiment of Castile ".
According to Uomoto's knowledge, this so-called "Castile First Ranger Regiment" included him, with only 7 people.
This completely disrupted Uomoto's original plan to join the Sicilian army immediately after the end of the service period. After the petition to the regent was ruthlessly rejected, Uomoto had no choice but to take him with only 7 people. The Ranger regiment stepped onto the battlefield.
And what annoyed him was that Alexander ordered them to throw away all the extra items on their bodies, watching the hard-collected spoils being searched, Uomoto almost went crazy with anger.
Then they came to the forefront with light outfits, and according to Alexander's orders, they had only one task, and that was to do their best to destroy all visible enemies.
"This is a bold attempt, General," Alexander said to Gonzalo after Uomoto and the others left. "So I didn't arrange too many people, because that would lead to the cart before the horse. Let's take a look at these. What can Rangers do on the battlefield, if successful, maybe we will build a brand new force."
The gunshots were intensive, and the killing sound shook the sky, and every roar of the artillery would completely swallow all nearby sounds.
The miracle of the walls of Gail didn't last long. As large pieces of rubble were smashed by cannonballs, the walls seemed to shake more and more severely.
Obvious cracks have appeared in some places, and some temporary repairs and reinforcements are signs of collapse.
A few God’s soldiers dragged the wooden beams that were removed and hurriedly tried to jam a rock that seemed to be sliding down the slope, but a shell flew, and the beam that was directly broken flew across. He smashed one soldier out of the city wall, while another wood full of sharp stubble smashed the other person's stomach.
"Wow~"
The big city brick that had been loosened rolled down the slope, and then a large piece of rubble also slipped down the slope.
A big gap finally appeared on the wall!
The soldiers on both sides of the city and outside the city chanted at the same time, and the troops on both sides rushed towards the gap like a sudden flood.
Standing on a roof far away, Alexander sighed helplessly. He knew that a massacre was inevitable. What made him helpless was that the army fighting between the two sides should be the elite of the future Spanish army.
However, this is already good news for the company. The city wall was blasted down so quickly, which means that the battle for Gahir will enter a truly white-hot battle.
From the direction of the city wall in the distance, the vibrations that shook the ground and the shouts that rang out immediately made those who were guarding the city immediately understand what had happened.
Several attendants hurriedly rushed into Ferdinand’s temporary bedroom. They saw that the king was standing in front of the statue of the Virgin on the wall, bowing his head and muttering as if he was praying. This caused them to have a meal at their feet, but the outside shouted more and more. The sound made them dare not delay any longer.
"Your Majesty, the Castilian may have broken through the city wall. The generals ask you to go to the other side of the river for command." An attendant said hurriedly.
Ferdinand looked back at the attendant, and raised his hand to interrupt what he wanted to continue to dissuade: "Don't panic, our army won't be defeated so quickly, you must know that this is not a Roman town, whether it is Combre or Gonzalo. , The two of them cannot use magic to send their army into the city."
Seeing that the king is so calm, the servants can’t help but feel relieved. At this time, the composure shown by the monarch has become a good medicine for everyone’s peace of mind. As Ferdinand walked out of the house, seeing the unhurried king, it was a bit The panicked soldiers also stabilized.
"It's a pity that I can't walk with you on the battlefield, but," Ferdinand drew his sword from the waist of the attendant, and put it gently on the shoulder of a knight. "My heart and my courage are with you. I believe you are I can feel it."
The knight in full armor knelt with excitement and took Ferdinand’s hand to kiss, and then stood up hard with the help of several servants nearby. Then the knight drew out his sword and pointed to the sky with a shout: "Kill Retreat the enemy!"
A small group of Castilian soldiers climbed up from the rolling crowd with difficulty, and then they themselves quickly rolled down the slope, mingling with those below who were struggling to climb out.
The collapsed was steep and difficult to climb, and the Aragonese soldiers guarding both sides of the gap desperately used stone arrows and bullets to hit the coalition forces that rushed up.
This is the third attack of the coalition forces, but it still ended in failure. Large corpses have been piled up under the wall at the bottom of the gap, and some injured people quickly suffocated because of being pressed underneath.
Uomoto stood behind a wooden stake. The place he was hiding from was actually not very secretive, but the Aragonese in the city couldn't take care of him.
This gave Uomoto a great opportunity.
He has taken his own men and killed a dozen Aragonese in a row, but this did not help the coalition forces to attack the city wall.
Suddenly, a sparkle caught Uomoto's attention. He saw a knight in full armor standing in the middle of the gap with a sword in his hand, constantly provoking the coalition forces below.
So he greeted several of his men and raised their muskets at the same time.
The specially made flintlock gun not only has greater power, but also has the accuracy that surprised Uomoto. If it were not on the battlefield, he would like to take this gun apart to see how it was made.
With an order, several muskets ejected flames at the same time.
From a distance, you could see the knight's body swaying continuously, as if being hit by something continuously, and then the knight fell and disappeared in the exclamation of the soldiers on board.
Uomoto and his men couldn't help but cheer, but soon they saw the knight staggering up again, who then fell to the ground again, and never got up again, but it was enough Let the Aragonese in the city behave incomparably, and morale boosted.
The coalition's attack on the city of Ghal, suffered a disastrous defeat after several defeats.