Chapter 1142 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-1)
It was very clear from Lord Bernard's words that his primary goal was not really to go win the battle or even take Phyrros Island back.NewW novels updates at novelhall.com
All those were just convenient reasons and extensions of his real objective- trying to achieve grand battlefield glory and accreditation, for himself as well as his family.
And Ser Robert knew this.
This is why Lord Bernard had made some very good points about attacking Alexander, he was initially of the mind to reject him, afraid he was just saying this to get in the way and order the army erratically.
And sensing this distrust, Lord Bernard tried to once again make the deal even sweeter, even reminding him of the 'terrible' way Lord Parker treated them, saying things like, "Robert! Did you forget what he has been giving you? I don't even know how you guys can eat that stuff. Barley! Really? Who give barley to his soldiers?"
Lord Bernard's voice was pitched and wounded, as this particular example was made referring to how barley was usually reserved as only animal feed since it had a pungent odor, and caused excess gas in humans.
So it was only eaten as food in desperate times or given as punishment, kind of like prison food.
And this did somewhat rub Ser Robert and the rest of the soldiers the wrong way, as they saw this as naked, blanket discrimination, hampering morale
But this in the grand scheme of things were minor inconveniences.
Most of the men were simply glad they had a place to rest their heads and warm food in their busy chilly winter.
While Ser Robert tended to agree, finding the camp conditions to be largely agreeable.
Sure there were small things to nitpick here and there, such as the aforementioned food quality, and that the portions they received being smaller compared to the Heeat soldiers, and or given that Lord Parker only paid half their monthly salaries.
But none of these were deal breakers.
Ser Robert had seen much worse.
In fact, he had done worse, once giving a group of allied troops just the food, no wages.
As for Lord Parker being supposedly very arrogant, well he did not find the man to be such, at least not any more than any of the other nobles from any other of the many families.
Hence despite Lord Bernard's acrimony toward Lord Parker, they were not enough to make Ser Robert flip.
But he eventually did.
So the single thing that tipped the man to Lord Bernard's side despite all the blockers was really the potential rewards a successful attack could bring.
If they would give back this important island to Lord Parker which was lost under his own command, well surely the rewards would be rich and succulent.
The Heeat family would have to take them much more seriously then.
Ser Robert was convinced of that.
Combine this with Lord Bernard's eager instance that showed no signs of budging and even seemed to display signs of ignoring Ser Robert's refuse, the short, bulky man with thin black whiskers along his cheeks ultimately nodded in assent.
That last sentence was pronounced by an extremely irritated Alexander, whose face in a very rare instance had become twisted in anger and frustration at the arrival of these ships.
He thought that Lord Parker had somehow gotten the news of his force's rout on the island and had dispatched men to reinforce them.
This was not something that Alexander had taken into account because, under reasonable circumstances, this would not have been possible.
It had not really been that long since Alexander dislodged the garrisons at the island and by all means Lord Parker should have had the time to even receive the news, much less react to it.
So his mind buzzed with pain trying to think where he had gone wrong, not even able to consider that these men were originally dispatched for a very different reason.
"Form up! Form up! Archers at the front! Quick! Archers at the front!"
Alexander's turbulent thoughts however were suddenly shattered by this loud, didactic order from the man beside him, Hemicus, who seemed to have instead come to the conclusion that the answer to how the enemy might have gotten wind of their triumph could wait.
For now, it was much more imperative that they staved off this attack to their flanks, if not at the very least flee.
And Alexander would hundred percent agree to this plan.
Thus currently throwing all the 'hows and whys' into the trash bin, he too joined the captain of his bodyguard immediately and started to scream with him.
Wildly flinging his hands toward the surrounding men, Alexander hence ordered,
"Right! Crossbows! Where are the crossbows? Get here! Get here now! Start firing! Start firing now! Do not let a single bastard land here!"
"Set up the catapults! Quick! Bring the catapults to the front and start throwing! Where the catapaults! Fire whenever you are ready!"
With the two of the highest ranking men in the formation taking charge, the small and elite five hundred men unit was able to quickly get its act together, turning to their right and acting just as they desired.
The infantry locked their shield, and since the enemy ships were already in range of their weapons, the crossbowmen only needed to aim and release their shots, wasting no time.
The trigger pulled by these rows of men went completely unnoticed by the Margraves' troops, who did not even know they were under the crosshairs of their enemy.
Instead, aboard Lord Bernard's deck, the unsuspecting men were too busy preparing themselves for their own assaults, such as by checking their grappling hooks and readying the siege ladders they were going to use to climb up to the tall bridge wall.
When they were suddenly and out of nowhere greeted by a hail of fast and accurate arrow fire, hitting the unprepared and packed tightly together men on the decks with their full ferocity.
The thick bolts with sharp steel heads tore through many of the men, and Alexander thought this was the perfect way to greet the other side.
Seeing the attack, Ser Robert groaned.
Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!
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