Chapter 62 Getting Push Back

Richard arrives at Mezorin three days after Niall arrives. He can't move as fast as he wants because of the cannons. The moment Mezorin City enters his sight, he sees the gates are closed.

"It looks like they know about our movement." William comment.

"Well...It's hard to conceal our movement from them."

"What should we do now, milord?"

"Prepare to bombard the gates with solid shots," Richard said. "But don't shoot it too frequently. Only enough to scare them." He issued another order.

If the gate falls, they can come in. If the gate opens, the shots can cause some destruction inside the city which can cause panic among the people in there. Richard didn't plan to bombard all the city gates. It will only cause his artillery to spread further apart from each other. Thus, he only focuses on the south and west gates since he comes from the southwest direction.

With this, he can minimise the usage of ammunition. Richard is going to be thrifty since his purpose is to bombard the soldiers, not the building.

Before long, William comes to him, "Milord, all the cannons are in position."

Richard nods, "Begin the attack."

With William's signal, the bombardment on the city gates begins.

....

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

"So that's the cannons, huh?" said the Count from the top of the wall. He now understands the cause of Niall's defeat well

"Yes..." said Niall. He added, "but that's not all. They have not used the deadlier cannonballs yet."

"Deadlier?"

Niall is too lazy to explain, "Just wait and you will see by yourself."

Count Naharog turns around and gazes down at the soldiers below, shivering in fear as their hearing captures the terrifying sound outside the city. They tightly hold whatever weapon they have; worn-out spears, dull swords, rakes, spading forks, scythes, sickles etc

Most of them are conscripts made up of farmers he has forced to join the battle. None of them has experience joining the war. A large number of them are adult men but there are some elderly and teenagers.

He didn't want to use the noble coalition's soldiers as a meat shield. They mostly consist of trained soldiers the noble has poured their resources on.

The count begins to open his mouth, "Listen carefully. All of you have one job to do which is to rush toward the cannons and capture them. I don't care how many of you die nor did I care about the methods you used. All I want is for you to accomplish the job by any means. I hope you remember that your wives, daughters and sisters are in my custody."

The count smirked, "I have seen some of them are quite a beauty. Well, their fate depends on your results."

The conscripted soldiers can only gnash their teeth after hearing that remark. Who in the territory doesn't know about the count's behaviour? A lot of women; married or not have become his victims.

"Do you guys understand?"

"Yes, milord." They all replied in unmotivated and low voices. Some begin to cry because they know they're going to die in just a moment.

The count ignores their cries and shouts, "Open the gates!!" The soldiers open the gate with all their might because the iron gate can be opened as smoothly as before. It had bent due to the continuous impact from the cannonballs.

Count's soldiers begin to instruct the conscript to rush out of the city. Thinking about the safety of their loved ones, they run with all their might. As they run, some of their companions are unlucky to get hit by the cannonballs. They keep moving forward, only hoping to survive this war.

Following behind them are the noble' soldiers. They block them from turning around and kill whoever that is trying to run.

From afar, Richard can see the soldiers struggling to open the gate. "They finally decided to come out, huh? And that Nelson sure pulls some nasty moves. To think he would use his people as a meat shield."

Richard calls for William and calmly issues an order, "Tell the artillerist to change the ammunition to spherical case shots." He does not really care or sympathize with those commoners.

William froze for a moment when he heard the instructions given. They are not trained soldiers. Using spherical shots on them is akin to mass killing the innocent commoners who are just getting dragged into this war.

Noticing William's hesitation, Richard said, "Get yourself together, William. This is a war. Trained or not, this place has no need for useless compassion."

After receiving the order, William bowed slightly to Richard and headed to Duan's location.

"Sir Duan, Lord Richard has ordered artillery to use spherical shots."

"Finally!" Duan excitedly said. He had long realised the enemy's intention was to flood the area with their numbers. He immediately orders the artillerists to change the ammunition.

"SHOOT!"

The running soldiers were taken aback. This time they didn't see one cannonball heading toward them but multiple. Soon, the hellish rain begins once more. The screams become increasingly louder. The flesh and body parts splatter and the blood flows like a river, turning the ground red. A rust-like smell began to envelop the battlefield.

The nobles' soldiers at the back slowly halt their movement. They see the human bodies fall at the front. Their steps become heavier and they begin to cower. The scene once again reminded them again how cheap the life of their comrade is.

The Ryntum force took this chance to surround the enemy.

"This is no good." Count Naharog said after watching the current development. He decided to give them some motivation.

From the top of the wall, he shouted directly to the soldiers below. His voice echoes throughout the battlefield, attracting the attention of both allies and enemies. His left hand holds a struggling little girl around seven or eight years old. He took the sword on his waist and sliced the little girl's throat, silencing her forever. He then throws the little girl to the ground below. Her body shattered to pieces.

"Hahaha," Niall laughed. "That's so cruel of you, Count Naharog."

"Thank you, Your Highness." The count takes it as a compliment. "These pigs and cows need to discipline periodically or else they will become disobedient. When you become a king, you will understand it too." Count Naharog tells the prince as if he is giving Niall a valuable life lesson.

"Move forward!! What are you waiting for?!" The count shouts while grabbing another child. His action shows that he has no hesitation in doing the cruel act again.

The conscript soldiers begin to put on a fight desperately like being possessed by a ghost. They don't want their children to suffer the same fate. Due to the enemy's desperation, the Ryntum force starts getting pushback.

"Sir Duan, they are coming closer," reports Larry.

Duan checks the ammunition. There are not many spherical shots left. The solid ones don't have much effect on large numbers of soldiers, "Retreat! retreat! retreat!"

The artillerists begin to retreat and Ryntum's force helps them by holding the enemy. The cows and oxen begin to pull the cannons. The enemy however was hell-bent to approach the artillerist.

A bloody fight happened and Ryntum force could barely hold them. The artillerist leaves one cannon behind as the enemy has caught up with them. Duan decided to incur panic on the enemy side by throwing the gunpowder at them before lit it up.

As he expected, panic happens and buys them some time to retreat.

"Milord, we also need to retreat," William suggests.

Richard sighs, "Let's do that. We have killed a lot of them." Nelson's method is cruel but so effective. Though he felt bitter, continuing the war will prove to be suicidal for Ryntum.

They are outnumbered by the high-spirited enemy. The advantage of cannons has been rendered useless.

"They have gone. Can I take this as our win?" Niall started from the city wall.

"Yes, Your Highness. Let's recall the soldiers back and make preparations for the next battle." replied the count.

This time, the Count decided to join Niall and his army at Bideford once again.