The castle was divided into three areas: front, middle, and back. The front area was the barracks, armory, stable, and training grounds.
The middle area was where the warehouse and the lord's office were. The former lord dealt with the affairs of his territory here, entertaining guests, and so on.
The back area was the residential area of the lord's family. No one was allowed to enter. There was also a small garden and pond.
It was said that the three generations of the lord's ancestors had spent countless wealth and energy, as well as decades to build this castle. It was to be used by his descendants to live and work in peace.
They would never have thought that their descendants would give up their territory and this sturdy castle so easily, turning it into a stronghold for the enemy. Then, their descendants would hire an army to attack the castle. It sounded very dramatic.
To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that the former lord, Count Leucaid Ba Krylaus, had most of his family's armed forces perished in the fire when he attacked Squirrel Village, he would never have given up his territory and this castle.
The castle was still sturdy, but without the power to defend it, it was useless. In the end, Count Krylaus left.
Now, Count Krylaus was back. Grand Duke Canas told the nobles who abandoned their territories to reclaim their territories themselves.
The enemy only had a battalion of soldiers, and they were stationed in four castles. He could send a regiment of light cavalry to help the nobles, but they would have to recruit their own soldiers to attack the castle.
If they could not reclaim their territories, the nobles would be stripped of their titles and inheritance rights.
Although Grand Duke Canas did not agree to the nobles' request to send troops to help them reclaim their territories, he at least sent a regiment of light cavalry to help. They were not responsible for attacking the castle, but scouting, covering, and sweeping the area was their job. With the help of the light cavalry, the only thing left for the nobles to do was to attack the castle.
For the nobles who abandoned their territories, what they needed to do now was to raise money and recruit an armed force to reclaim their territories.
According to the report of the light cavalry who went to scout, there was not even a shadow in their family territory. This made all the nobles let out a sigh of relief. At least they did not have to be responsible for the families of their useless subjects after they took back their family territory.
However, there was another piece of bad news. The enemy had gathered their forces and were trapped in the strongest castle, Count Krilaus.
All of the lords here knew how sturdy this castle was. In the past, Count Leucard had boasted that as long as his family's army was present, the enemy would not be able to take down this castle even if they had ten times the number of soldiers, unless the enemy used siege cannons.
Although he was bragging, for the nobles in this area, Count Krilos' castle was indeed difficult to conquer.
A few decades ago, Count Leucard's father had a territorial war with the surrounding nobles. Those seven or eight nobles gathered more than ten times their number and besieged Count Krilaus' castle for half a year. In the end, not only did they fail to take it down, but they also suffered heavy casualties. In the end, they had no choice but to make peace with the mediation of the other nobles.
Naturally, the fighting strength of those nobles was very weak. Count Leucard's family's army wasn't that strong either. It was only because of the sturdy castle that they had the upper hand. That wasn't much of a difference.
The ones defending the castle were the regular army of Aueras, a force that dominated the eastern part of the continent. Who knew how many men the nobles would have to recruit to win against a single battalion.
While the anti-Aueras alliance had just wiped out three of Aueras's corps in one fell swoop, one of which was one of the kingdom's four trump cards, Bluefeather, known as Canastje.
However, the nobles were well-informed. The main forces of the battle this time were two corps from Nasri and seven light cavalry corps from Canastje. While they obtained a great victory, they suffered heavy casualties and were unable to continue fighting.
Now, Duke Canastje sent two light cavalry corps to the borders of the former Askilinian dukedom to show off their might, but it was just a bluff.
His secret order was to retreat immediately if the enemy showed any signs of a counterattack and not engage the enemy at all.
That was also why Duke Canastje only sent a line of light cavalry to help the nobles reclaim their lost territory. He couldn't spare any more troops.
After ambushing three corps from Aueras in the plains, Canas discovered that they had lost four corps in the battle.
He did not care about the three temporary corps as they were sent to their deaths anyway. However, the loss of an entire corps of elite light cavalry to besiege Bluefeather was what pained Grand Duke Canas the most.
Nasri's two corps suffered heavy casualties as well. The second line was half crippled and the standing corps lost a third of their fighting force.
Nine corps had ambushed three of the enemy's corps, and it was on a boundless grassland, so the enemy had no way to defend themselves. In the end, although they had annihilated the enemy, they discovered that they had suffered more casualties than the enemy. This great victory seemed like a joke.
The nobles who knew the inside story didn't dare to recruit men to reclaim their territory and attack Count Krylaus' castle.
Having suffered at Squirrel Village, they knew that the motley crew they recruited wasn't a match for the well-trained army of Aueras.
Even if the enemy didn't have any tricks up their sleeves, they did occupy Count Krylaus' castle and had a battalion of soldiers at that.
This wasn't a territorial war between nobles where they could compete with each other. Only regular troops were needed to deal with a regular army.
So, the nobles turned their attention to the Askilinian corps and Duke Rimodra's new corps. No matter what, they were the regular army of the two former duchies. Not only would it be justifiable for them to deal with the Aueran army, they would also be more reliable in terms of combat power.
However, Duke Rimodra's asking price was very high. Having lost his duchy, he gave off the impression that he had gone mad from poverty.
He said that he could bring in the three corps under him, but the nobles would have to take care of their logistics.
The faces of the nobles turned pale. If they calculated this, they would all go bankrupt. It was not a small number to support three regiments. If this dragged on for too long, they would not be able to recover any territory. They would all have to beg for food.
It was obvious that Duke Rimodra was up to no good. He was just trying to shift the blame.
So, they went to look for the person in charge of the Askilinian corps. This time, they were more reliable.
Speaking of which, the Askilinian corps didn't have it easy either. The treatment they received while living under someone else's roof was terrible. While the Anti-Aueran Alliance agreed to pay half of the military expenses, they weren't interested in this exiled corps that they couldn't control.
While the war had been going on for four years and both Nasri and Canas needed troops, the Askilinian nobles weren't fools. They knew that the corps was the only thing they could rely on after losing their duchy, so they weren't willing to accept the cannon fodder missions. As a result, the corps' status in the eyes of the Anti-Aueran Alliance grew lower and lower.
Both sides came to an agreement. The Canas nobles needed a fighting force to help them reclaim their territory and attack Count Krylaus' castle.
On the other hand, the nobles of the Askilin Dukedom needed to find some allies for themselves and earn some extra income so that the army under them could receive some additional support and supplies.
So, the two sides quickly came to an agreement. The Askilinian corps would send an infantry line to help the nobles reclaim their lost territory.
The nobles of Askilin were very confident in the combat prowess of their infantry corps. After all, they had fought against the Aueran army at the frontlines of Rimodra.
While they were defending back then, they still managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Aueran assault force. They could be considered veterans of hundreds of battles.
Now that the enemy only had a single battalion defending, sending an infantry line to attack was already showing them a lot of respect.
So, the Askilinian commanders were optimistic that they would only need to pay the price of two battalions at most to take down the enemy's castle. That was already overestimating the enemy's fighting strength and the castle's sturdiness.
This was the second day of the enemy's siege. After two lines of enemies arrived at Count Krylaus' castle yesterday afternoon, the Canasian light cavalry division split into four battalions. Three battalions were stationed on three sides of the castle to monitor the other three sides.
The other went to the entrance of the mountain path to seal off the connection between the path and the castle.
They didn't need to attack Moriad's line at the entrance of the mountain path. All they had to do was prevent reinforcements or supplies from the other side of the mountain path to the castle.
The Askilinian infantry line, on the other hand, went to the abandoned village to collect wood after setting up camp. They went to the orchard to cut down wood to make ladders and wooden carts. They busied themselves for half the night and only went to rest in the middle of the night.
Dyavid even volunteered to lead some men out for an ambush.
However, he rejected the request after much consideration. The enemy had just arrived and there was no way they would be so careless. They would either keep their guard up or set up a trap to lure the defenders out.
As they rested too late, the enemy didn't launch an attack the next morning. It was only at two in the afternoon that they launched a probing attack.
Their objective should be to investigate the firepower of the castle's defenses. They had mobilized a large group of soldiers, pushing seven or eight wooden carts. Using the broken walls of the village as cover, they rushed out from the streets. They wanted to push the wooden carts to the bottom of the castle, and then use the wooden carts as cover to accurately aim their muskets and suppress the enemies on top of the castle walls …
It was a good idea and a good strategy. The only mistake they made was that they didn't expect the defenders to be the first ones to use precision muskets.
"Do we need to use the cannons to destroy the carts?" Skri asked.
Claude shook his head. "There's no need. The enemy only sent out a company of men. These carts are just there to probe our defenses.
Let them get close and we'll exchange fire with them. We'll choose some soldiers with good marksmanship while the rest hide behind the walls to reload.
The precision muskets they're equipped with aren't as effective as our aubass mark 3 muskets and have a shorter range.
They can only get close to the walls. Let's use them as target practice. "
Count Krylaus' castle only had one gate facing the village. Even though there was a trench in front of it, it wasn't very deep.
The other three walls only had a side gate wrapped in metal. The side gate wasn't big, only about a meter wide and was wedged between the two protruding walls.
So, in terms of efficiency, the best choice for the attackers was still the front gate.
As long as they crossed the trench and destroyed the two gates, they would be able to enter the castle.
Right now, the enemies attacking did not carry the wooden planks laid on top of the trench, nor did they carry ladders. They only pushed seven or eight wooden carts close to the trench. It was obvious that they wanted to test the power of the cannons on the city wall.
However, Claude didn't let them have their way. Instead, he chose 20 to 30 soldiers with good marksmanship to snipe at the enemies pushing the carts.
Claude was also firing. Even with the wooden carts as cover, the enemies would still accidentally expose a part of their bodies.
Many smart soldiers would aim at the exposed parts of the enemy's body and shoot. Then, the enemy would fall to the ground, wailing in pain, and another bullet would take his life.
In the short 70-80 metres from the village to the trench in front of the castle, the enemies had already left behind 20 to 30 corpses.
When the enemy parked the seven to eight wooden carriages in front of the trench, they raised their muskets and launched a counterattack against the defenders on the city wall.
For a moment, the wooden carriages on top of the city wall and below the castle started firing at each other fiercely. White smoke filled the air above the city wall and below the castle, making it even more difficult to aim …
Five to six metres away from Claude, a soldier with half his body exposed on the walls was shot in the head and fell to the ground like a sack.
Claude roared, "Take cover! Don't expose yourself! Move to a different place after every shot! Don't always fire from behind the battlements!"
There were too many new recruits. Even if some of them were good marksmen, they didn't have much experience on the battlefield.
They didn't know how to cover themselves and often forgot about safety in the midst of fighting. The soldier who tried to get a better view of the situation earlier stuck his head out of the walls, only to be discovered by the enemy on the side and shot in the head.
Claude had already discovered where the enemy was hiding. He crouched between the cart and the carriage and reloaded his gun on the ground. Even though his movements were slow, his hiding spot was well hidden and it would be difficult for the soldiers on the walls to spot him.
Claude took the loaded gun from Myjack and moved to a battlements on the side before setting it up and taking aim.
The enemy could load the gun while crouching, but he had to stand up when firing.
As expected, the enemy reloaded the gun and leaned on the carriage. He knelt on the ground and raised his head to look for his target on the walls.
Bang! Claude pulled the trigger and the match was pressed into the cartridge. The gun vibrated and a puff of white smoke came out of the muzzle. A line of blood flowed out of the enemy's left eye.
He fell to the ground without a sound, and the musket that was resting on the wheel of the carriage slowly slid to the ground …