Chapter 87 You hit yours, I hit mine (Happy New Year everyone)
It's a pity that until the Saxon army defeated the three thousand servants, there was still no network administrator to respond to Otto.
Seeing the servant army being wiped out, Otto had only one thought in his mind.
This child must not be kept!
Relying on his personal bravery, one person changes the situation on the battlefield. The last time I saw this scene, Otto was playing Total War Three Kingdoms, attacking the enemy with the unlimited physical strength of the female bandit Zheng Jiang.
Unexpectedly, this kind of scene that only appears in games can actually happen in reality.
After all, this is not a game. The characters in the game can be invulnerable, but in reality, no matter how strong a person is, they are still made of flesh and blood.
After Duke Bach finished charging the servants, he wanted to charge towards Otto's main line. However, facing the arrows and crossbow bolts fired by Otto's soldiers, he had to stop his attack.
After using his mace to deflect the weak arrows beyond the range, Duke Bach snorted coldly, glanced angrily in Otto's direction, then turned his horse's head and led several equally brave soldiers around him.
, and walked away.
"Well, I didn't lie to you. This Saxon Duke is really powerful." Seeing that Duke Bach did not continue to attack, Count Werner breathed a sigh of relief and said to Otto with some gloating.
"Not only is he awesome, I think Bach looks like an emperor." Otto also joked.
"The appearance of an emperor?" Obviously Werner didn't understand Otto's joke, and he frowned and thought. "You mean, he can build a powerful empire like the great emperors in history?
No, this is too terrible."
"You really don't understand humor." Otto gave Werner a blank look and did not continue to explain. "Although this Duke of Bach is extremely brave, he can't actually change the situation at hand. I don't think he is that difficult to deal with."
."
"Do you have a solution?" Werner was a little surprised. The Duke of Bach looked so brave. Could Otto find a way to deal with him after just one fight?
"Why do you think he didn't dare to rush over just now?" Otto asked.
"If you go further, you will be within the range of the arrow. The opponent is not a fool."
"Yes, since he is not invulnerable, wouldn't it solve the problem if we get close and shoot him with a crossbow?" Otto felt that this was not difficult.
"This..." Werner was a little dumbfounded. The aristocratic education he received since childhood did not tell him to deal with the aristocrats in this way.
Otto didn't speak, but El spoke.
"Lord Earl, this is a war. The people on the other side are rebels, not nobles. Please don't treat the rebels with the standards of nobles."
Otto glanced at El with admiration and felt that this younger brother was really good. Although he was usually a bit lazy, he still had a good mind and was very clear about right and wrong. If he was trained well, he would definitely be his right-hand man.
"El is right." Otto smiled slightly. "Count Werner must have forgotten the Saxon War back then. How cruel and bloody it was, in exchange for the Saxons' submission.
Now, since the Saxons have forgotten the war, it is necessary for us to remind them."
That being said, Otto had no idea how to kill Duke Bach.
Although it was possible to take advantage of Duke Bach's characteristic of taking the lead and let the soldiers in the front row shoot the opponent with crossbows. However, Otto was not sure whether this could kill Duke Bach.
Although Otto was far away on the battlefield, he could clearly see that Duke Bach was wearing armor. It was still difficult to shoot him to death while wearing armor.
The opponent is so brave. If he is really like the fierce general in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" who can dodge arrows, or if he is shot into a hedgehog and can still be unparalleled, then the morale of Otto's side will undoubtedly be huge.
Maybe it would not be impossible to run away when seeing the Duke of Bach from now on.
Otto simply could not trust the morale and fighting will of the army in the cold weapon era.
The reason why the more than 3,000 servants army collapsed so quickly just now was because the bravery of Duke Bach and his soldiers frightened the soldiers who were originally farmers, so that they did not dare to resist and allowed themselves to be slaughtered.
During this battle, Otto also saw some clues, that is, the army brought by Duke Bach this time was actually not very powerful in combat.
Except for Duke Bach and his one or two hundred soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the other Saxon soldiers is actually similar to that of the servants. The only difference lies in the equipment.
The servants all have simple weapons and armor, while Duke Bach's Saxon soldiers have relatively sophisticated weapons and armor.
This means that as long as we can limit the performance of Duke Bach and recruit more servants, he may not be defeated.
Since the reinforcements coming from the other side had only average combat effectiveness, Otto also thought of a simpler way to rely solely on the Duke of Bach.
That is not to engage in head-on confrontation with the opponent, but to rely on the terrain and long-range weapons every time to hold the opponent back. Taking advantage of the larger number of cavalry in your own army, you will continue to feed the war with war, completely destroying the Saxons' war potential.
It's a pity that the popularity rate of crossbows in the Franconian army is not very high. I don't know why. In short, this useful weapon seems to have been deliberately forgotten by the Duke. Among Otto's 5,000-man army, only
A small number of elites were equipped with crossbows.
Including the more than 100 Otto's personal soldiers, Otto only managed to collect nearly 300 crossbows.
This small number can only limit Duke Bach and his soldiers. It is impossible to win the war relying on this.
After communicating with Werner, Otto decided to divide his forces into two groups.
He himself led the cavalry and was responsible for forming more servants, while Werner led the infantry and was responsible for entangling the Duke of Bach.
Otto left all the crossbows with Werner to prevent Werner from being defeated later.
At the same time, under Kassel Castle, the Duke of Franconia looked at the map and the fortified castle not far away, and it was difficult to make a decision for a while.
He still has nearly 30,000 troops in his hands, while the Saxons opposite have only about half of his strength.
Although he had a sufficient numerical advantage in the army, he actually suffered losses in several battles.
Bach, the leader of the rebels elected by the Saxons, led a small group of elite soldiers to constantly harass him, which caused him some heavy losses, especially the fact that the siege equipment was destroyed several times by the opponent, which kept delaying his launch of a general attack.
drag.
Recently, after he strengthened his defenses, the annoying Bach finally didn't show up again, and a new batch of siege equipment was almost ready in time.
"Your Majesty, we are convinced that Bach brought people to the north." A baron came in and reported hurriedly.
"It seems that Otto and Werner did a good job." The Duke of Franconia showed a smile on his face and nodded lightly.
"How are the siege engines prepared?"
"The necessary equipment has been prepared and we can launch an attack at any time."
"Okay! We will launch a general attack tomorrow and pass on the order. The first person to enter Kassel Castle will become the new Earl of Kassel!"