Chapter 440: Capture of Orleans
It’s already April, outside Orleans, the endless grass is wetted by the rain, where flocks of sheep are grazing here, and the shepherd dogs keep their heads up all the time, staring into the distance.
The Loire River is the largest river in France, with a length of about 1,000 kilometers. In the era before the railway was built, it was the largest power hub in France, with unparalleled economic benefits.
Among them, Orleans is such a city that enjoys the gift of the Loire River. The Loire River is almost a golden waterway, making Orleans not only an economic hub, but also a southern barrier of Paris.
It can be said that Orleans is not only the economic point of Paris, but also a military center. The former Joan of Arc left important and brilliant achievements here.
Orleans is only 120 kilometers away from Paris. It can be said to be an important transportation and military route, and it is naturally the place where everyone wants to control.
For example, at this time, a battle is breaking out at the South Gate of Orleans.
"Boom—" "Kill—" "Puff—" All kinds of fighting sounds can be heard endlessly.
I saw hundreds of Huguenot soldiers, holding spears and muskets, shooting towards the city gate.
Although the number of defenders near the city gate is small, they are tenacious and have been guarding the entire city gate tightly, and the city gate only reveals the width of an arm's length.
The poor city gate, although it is wrapped in iron sheets, is bumpy and extremely ugly.
Hundreds of Protestant soldiers, although casualties continued, but their faith made them steadfast and vowed not to retreat.
Charles is like this. As a Protestant who has been naturalized for several years, he hates the Catholics very much, especially when a large number of Catholics massacred Protestants broke out a while ago, which made this devout believer heartbroken.
The nobles sat in the back to direct and plan, and he, as the actual commander, personally went into battle and robbed the city gate.
"呵—" With a knife, he chopped down several Catholic guards who were still coming out of the city gate in front, and Charles swung a fatal knife without hesitation.
Blood spurted out from the soldier's neck, and the hot red liquid spilled out directly, dyeing the soldier's body red.
Even, a few drops splashed on Charles' forehead, but he didn't care about it at all. He still held the knife and accompanied the soldiers around him, pushing hard at the city gate ahead.
"Hoo—" Suddenly, a flying arrow shot out from the crack of the door, and before Charles could react, it shot directly at his arm, biting it hard, and the sound of entering the flesh was clearly audible.
Although the pain kept Charles awake, it also allowed him to bear the tremendous pain.
Holding his injured arm, Charles stepped back slowly, leaning his back against the wall, looking at the bow and arrow on his arm, making him tremble with pain.
Several cronies came over quickly, raised the small wooden shield in their hands, trying to cover his body, and guarded against flying arrows.
"My lord, are you alright!" A confidant asked anxiously seeing a lot of blood on Charles' arm.
"Huhu—" There was a wry smile on Charles' snow-white face, he shook his head, and said, "I'm not as fragile as I am, I will protect you, and I'm going to report the battle situation to the Lord!"
After hearing the order, the confidants quickly recruited a few more people, raised their shields, and covered Charles' whole body.
After leaving the city gate, more than a dozen arrows shot directly at the wooden shield, nailing it fiercely on the wooden shield, and the tail was even trembling and buzzing unceasingly.
Carefully crossing the high bridge over the incomplete moat, a group of people walked quickly. In less than ten minutes, Charles and others came to the headquarters and met the commander François de Coligny.
He is the younger brother of Admiral Gaspard Coligny, also known as Andro.
"Charles, what's going on?" Andro was shocked when he saw that his general, Charles, was injured. He quickly put down the strangely colored tea in his hand, and hurried over.
Although Shire is only a retired player in his thirties? The mercenary leader, but the only one he currently has
A general who can be used, so Andro is currently caring for him very much.
"Your Excellency, the defenders are relying on the city wall, and the advantage is too great. If we continue, when the mercenaries are dead, the militiamen who took the initiative to participate will immediately disperse!"
Charle looked at the younger brother of the admiral and said solemnly.
Hearing this, Andro shook his head and immediately vetoed:
"No, Charles! Capturing Orleans is the goal of my trip, and I recruited you for this reason."
Having said that, he looked at Charles sincerely, and said:
"Besides, there are not many defenders in Orleans, and the defenders are already its main force. As long as we persevere, I believe that the city gate will be captured soon. By then, Orleans will be in our hands!"
"Don't worry about the commission, I will double the rewards to these brave soldiers after it is done."
Hearing this, Charles felt cold in his heart. He knew that the gentleman in front of him wanted his brothers to use their lives to obtain meritorious service for him.
The lives of himself and others are like a grass in his heart, and he wants to take the opportunity to leave for a moment.
Seemingly seeing Charles' uneasy mood, Andro said in a seductive voice:
"Charles, I think, if you can capture Orleans, a knight must be inevitable!"
Patted him on the shoulder, Andro whispered in his ear.
As soon as this remark came out, Charles changed his expression and said firmly:
"Your Excellency, please give me some time, I think I can definitely break through this city!"
Subsequently, under the inspiration of Andro, Charles continued to command the soldiers to seize the city gate.
At this time, Admiral Coligny, who led 3,000 cavalry on the road ahead of schedule, had arrived near Orleans, only 6 kilometers away from Orleans.
Gradually approaching the city of Orleans, Coligny is a little bit confident in breaking Orleans. With 3,000 cavalry, it should be possible to catch it by surprise.
Although he thought so, he didn't know the number of troops stationed in Orleans. If there were too many people, it would be bad.
This operation is also a gamble.
The closer he got to Orleans, the more Collini felt something was wrong. When he saw the city wall of Orleans, he suddenly realized that someone was taking the city gate.
At this time, Andro also saw his brother coming, and hurried up to meet him.
After asking about his brother's purpose, Coligny couldn't help being overjoyed that the city of Orleans was in his hands.
"Follow me, warriors, stand up for the fighting partners ahead, and capture Orleans—"
Marshal Coligny's voice was extremely provocative. The cavalrymen who had driven for a long time were refreshed, and they immediately shook off their mental fatigue and shouted with vigor.
The defenders, who had been fighting back and forth, were already struggling to defend. At this time, they suddenly saw that the enemy had reinforcements, and their morale was drained.
Soon, the city of Orleans became the territory of the Huguenots, and also became the political center of the Huguenots.
(end of this chapter)