total war rise of empire

Chapter 98 Megara Defensive Battle I
The construction of such things as trebuchets is more complicated, so the crusaders can only make a few crude products in a hurry, but the ladder is relatively simple. With the hard work and the efforts of the cannon fodder conscripts of the Crusaders, Alibach prepared hundreds of simple ladders!

It is a real ladder, the one with a chassis, not the wooden frame in the TV series!
That kind of wooden shelf, a hundred thousand troops can make as much as they want!

However, the simple ladders made by the Crusaders are still a bit different from the ladder carts under Lei Zihao's command. It's not because of the wheels, but because the ladders of the Crusaders don't have a folding device, and after being pushed down, they have to be pulled up by manpower. Drive to the wall!

Although it is basically impossible to destroy the ladder as long as it is erected, except for lighting it with fire, but the process of erecting the ladder requires a long time to face the rain of arrows on the city wall, and the siege troops below will die. There are so many people!
In order to keep the lifting process of the ladder from falling short due to a large number of casualties, the siege troops must prepare enough people, and all of them will be exposed to the naked arrow rain!

That's why crusaders with enough cannon fodder can use such simple ladders in such a luxurious way...

In order to maximize the effectiveness of the ladder, Alibach did not launch a general attack on the same day, but let some cannon fodder push down the wall of sheep and horses under the city wall, otherwise, the ladder would be difficult to transport...

In real siege warfare, even in a city on a plain, the defenders climb up the city wall in order to block the ladders and other equipment of the siege troops as much as possible. The gully, like the scene in TV dramas rushing to the bottom of the city, is rarely seen in reality...

However, these are minor problems for the siege troops. It is nothing more than spending some cannon fodder life to turn the high slope into a relatively flat slope with earth and rocks. It is much easier than filling the moat!
Under the rain of arrows in the city of Megara, the Crusaders paid the lives of thousands of cannon fodder, and finally cleared all the obstacles in the city!

This is the ancient siege battle. Before it even started, the Crusaders lost nearly [-] people...

Of course, the huge casualties of the Crusaders are also related to the outdated siege equipment. If they were in the main human world, shield trucks, tower trucks, torque trebuchets and other equipment would all go into battle. With the city defense of Megara, long-range Whether the firepower can suppress the attacking party is a question...

Without equipment, it can only be filled with human life. Fortunately, human reproduction is good, and the church can afford to die!

In the early morning of the next day, the sun had just risen, and the Crusader camp that had rested all night was rejuvenated. The Crusader camp was established in a flat area with sentries everywhere. Last night, Lei Zihao's people learned about the Crusaders' deployment. After being strict, the practice of night raids was cancelled.

Although the elite of the Crusaders only occupy a small number, they are all drawn from the noble territories that have suffered numerous civil wars. Whether it is the knight nobles who lead the army or the deacons of the church, they are always vigilant. In this war-torn world, there are leaders There are too many experienced soldiers, and it is difficult to make a surprise attack!

The formation of the Crusaders attacking the city was relatively conventional. In front were temporary conscripts holding large shields. These temporary conscripts were far inferior to professional mercenaries and standing troops who were often trained by noble lords in terms of combat will and fighting skills. Needless to say, compared with serious knights!

However, Lei Zihao felt that compared to the Pylos slaves, these temporary conscripts could completely crush them!
These simple and ignorant serfs, under the persecution of their families and the supervising team behind them, the probability of fleeing can still be effectively reduced, provided that the elite as the main force is not defeated!

In a field battle, these temporary conscripts can easily become a breakthrough for the entire army. As long as a team of elite cavalry rushes into the temporary conscripts, it can trigger a chain collapse and even shake the entire military formation!

Therefore, in the eyes of noble lords, these temporary conscripts are usually used to do chores and serve knights and regular troops. Only when attacking a city will a large number of temporary conscripts be needed to go to the battlefield!

Because the defending side cannot fight back with its entire army, even if a few elites are used to barely defeat these cannon fodder, it will not cause a chain collapse reaction!

The exciting war drums sounded again, tens of thousands of Crusader cannon fodder holding large shields and pushing ladders rushed towards the city of Megara densely like ants!

From Lei Zihao down to an ordinary Pylos slave, seeing the endless siege troops, they all felt a sense of oppression in their hearts!

A timid person would tremble just by seeing this formation!
Although the main body of these tens of thousands of siege troops is cannon fodder similar to levies, there are still a large number of archers and crossbowmen infiltrated in the middle part. They will mix with the crowd to fight back against the defenders who show up on the city wall and shoot arrows !

When the cannon fodder forward of the Crusaders holding a large shield and pushing the ladder entered the range of the defenders' bows and arrows, thousands of arrows rained down from the sky immediately!

The Crusader cannon fodder was beaten by the officers and the supervising team, gritted their teeth, and walked in the rain of arrows. After the cannon fodder pushing the ladder fell down, the cannon fodder of the conscripts without weapons was immediately replaced, and continued to maintain the maximum thrust!
The siege troops under the city of Megara stepped on the corpses of their own people all the way, and finally approached the real city wall!
At this time, the crossbowmen of the crusaders in the middle had already entered the effective range, raised their faces, stopped to bend their bows and set arrows, and fought back at the defending archers who were shooting happily on the city wall!
Casualties began to appear in Lei Zihao's troops. There were screaming archers lying on the city wall, or simply falling from the city wall after being hit by an arrow, turning into meat loaves...

clang, clang, clang...

There was a series of crashing sounds from the ladders, and even though the base of the ladders was covered with corpses, those cheap conscripts still completed their tasks without hesitation!
The conscripts who couldn't help picked up the shields of the dead comrades in front and put them on top of their heads. They didn't dare to retreat and become deserters, because they knew very well that there was still a chance of survival here. If they fled back, they would be 100% executed!

These conscripts who have no human rights, suffer and suffer on weekdays, plowing the fields and farming, supporting the noble lords who do not work, and under the threat of swords in wartime, they have to work hard as cannon fodder!

This is the origin of the name of the Dark Calendar. In this era, if you don't step on others' heads, you will lose everything, and even your life will be fully squeezed out of every bit of value by the upper class!
(End of this chapter)