Chapter 206: Chapter 101: Executing King Uther At the same time.
Duncan had already reached the foot of the mountains near Cardiff. His army split into two routes: one to take Cheshire and the other to attack the capital of the Kingdom of Camelot.
"It really is a medieval castle!"
Duncan stood at the foot of the mountain, gazing at the majestic walls in the distance with a serious expression, "No wonder the rumors say that the Kingdom of Camelot has an indestructible fortress."
If we forcefully assault it, who knows how many people will die.
Moreover, King Uther is well-prepared and likely not short of supplies; I’ve already seen the stacks of rolling stones and logs on the battlements, which could crush a large number of people if thrown down. The castle is surrounded on all sides by arrow towers, capable of forming a crossfire. Attacking the main gate directly would expose one to the arrow towers on either side.
The enemy has cover, and archers have no advantage.
With the siege capabilities of this era, taking a near-medieval castle fortress would be extremely difficult, even with several times the number of troops.
But it doesn’t matter.
Just bomb the hell out of it!
Duncan’s army surrounded the castle, and the next day as he rode through the camp, he even saw the generals on the distant city walls—not King Uther, but a seasoned knight.
——Uffes (Guardsman Knight) (Two-star Silver Gray).
Where is King Uther?
Duncan checked the strategic map and saw King Uther snoring away in a castle room.
There were other markers beside him, two ’submissive maid servants.’
——King Uther (King of Camelot) (Slaughter Wizard) (Mildly Disabled) (Celestial Destiny Lost) (Forsaken by the Gods) (Royal Power Shaken) (Two-star Whiteboard).
No wonder Duncan couldn’t find him at first.
King Uther didn’t even have the golden king leader marker and was directly like a two-star whiteboard knight. The last king he saw like this was during the Battle of Sharon, a king from the exiled land of Alan, but that one had thousands of loyal Alan cavalry, marked as three-star whiteboard.
The foundation of the Kingdom of Camelot is actually weaker; Alan, after all, was one of Europe’s great powers at the time, maintaining some strength even post-destruction.
Not until the afternoon.
Did King Uther, dressed in splendid royal armor and wearing a crown, limp his way up the walls, his leg injury unhealed, forcing him to stop and rest as he climbed. Recovery takes a hundred days for bone and muscle injuries, and he has long lost the youthful ability to recover quickly.
Ordinary people suffer greatly from battlefield injuries, often becoming disabled. The Duke of Dingtiger also had to retreat to Cornwall to recover after being shot in battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
By evening, five catapults started hurling stones; Duncan personally operated one to test the trajectory arc.
These walls are really damn solid.
Not budging an inch.
Duncan wasn’t in a hurry; the next day, he brought in ten more catapults, filling the space, forming two rows, and continued the bombardment for three days straight, fixing any broken catapults. With the trajectories he tested before, the stones almost always hit the general area.
This round of bombardment shook the spirits of the castle’s inhabitants. Even King Uther dared not appear on the walls anymore.
Finally.
After five days of continuous bombardment, a loud crash sounded, and the fortress, reputed to be indestructible, had a corner blown away. The right arrow tower collapsed, killing over a dozen people. Uffes had tried counterattacking, but whenever crossbows appeared on the walls, Duncan personally controlled the catapults, relying on a god-view to smash them to pieces.
What kind of uncanny accuracy is this?!
Uffes was not unfamiliar with catapults but truthfully, their accuracy depended on fate. Not only was Duncan’s aim precise, but after a mathematician arrived from London on the third day, the others operating the catapults also improved in accuracy.
Mathematicians can be used this way?
See here.
This highland fortress isn’t so indestructible after all.
If it doesn’t crumble, it’s because the firepower isn’t strong enough!
The Mongol army managed to smash through fortress walls that the Assassins had fortified over hundreds of years. Duncan hasn’t even developed the revolving cannon (weighted catapult) yet; if he had it, King Uther’s castle would have been reduced to ruins long ago.
Keep bombarding!
Duncan wasn’t worried at all. The army besieged for half a month, bombarding for the same amount of time.
When stones ran short locally, they were transported from elsewhere.
Finally.
When a small squad climbed the walls at night to surrender, Duncan knew the time to attack had come.
——Camelot Highland Swordsmen (Morale Shaken) (Outnumbered and Outmatched) (Wall Collapsed)!
They had been surrounded for half a month, bombarded by stones for the same period.
Uffes’ plans almost completely fell apart as the arrow towers on all sides were destroyed, and a section of the wall crumbled the day before. The defensive capabilities of this military fortress were certainly formidable; the walls were extremely sturdy, perhaps comparable to Constantinople of this era.
But the subsequent battle didn’t offer much highlight, because a cornered beast must first have morale to fight.
At midnight.
Duncan led elite troops in a sudden assault, with Kulin’s Gaulish Oath Warriors Battle Group at the forefront. In a wave of strong attack, they climbed the walls, taking just a dozen minutes of fighting for the walls to fall. Duncan had just slain seven or eight men, warming up, when the eager-to-earn-merit Kulin led his men inside, directly attacking the inner fortress.
Even dozens from the indigenous chieftain’s Indigo Highlands Swordsmen Battle Group stormed the fortress, covered in indigo that made them ghostly in the night. With a war cry, they charged, routing their foes.
Duncan had previously promised them that outstanding achievements would be rewarded with lands taken from King Uther.