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Chapter 41: Taking The City
🕑 Added 2025-04-23 14:27:07 +0000 UTCThis is a gamble with a thousand lives as chips.
Menachel only knew Gawain from the few words they had exchanged before, so he was not sure whether Gawain and Agravain could open the city gates. He was just betting that the general of Bilu City was eager for reinforcements to boost his morale.
They had no independent food supply route, and if they do not enter the city, they would have no other choice once the food ran out. But Menachel was so bold that he dared to put the lives of a thousand people, including himself, on the whim of others without even a moment of hesitation. In a sense, he could be said to be abnormal.
A merciful army is not a good one,
And there will be casualties in the march and war. Gawain and Agravain were not hypocritical. They rode two horses and secretly bypassed the enemy before Menachel was ready to act. Menachel gave the rest of the horses to the follow-up troops, and only took four knights as advance personnel to lurk towards the enemy camp.
In a situation where they were relying on sneak attacks, the sound of horse hooves would only cause extra trouble. After taking off his heavy armor, Menachel moved very quickly. In order to reduce the risk of being exposed, he did not even carry his heavy sword, but only used the most common knight’s sword.
Although there was no tacit understanding, the knights of Camelot coordinated with each other with minimalist movements worthy of “elite” and quickly killed the guards at the gate. Menachel also immediately removed the short wooden stakes that served as a temporary city wall.
Fortunately, the rebel camp was laxly guarded and did not even have a sentry post, which saved Menachel a lot of trouble.
Red and black lightning currents appeared on Menachel’s body, which was extremely harsh in the quiet night. Then, the next moment after the lightning disappeared, the sound of galloping horses rang out around him. Behind the forty-eight cavalrymen, more than a hundred infantrymen were driving at full speed towards this place.
“Enemy attack!”
The rebels in the camp let out a long howl, but these rebels, who had lived in peace for too long, were already accustomed to besieging the defenders, and no one expected that someone would raid their camp.
As a result, the rebels who rushed out of the tents were panicked. Not to mention wearing helmets and armor to resist, most of the soldiers were not even wearing clothes. They ran out of the tents and fled in all directions, causing chaos.
Camelot’s thousand soldiers gained the upper hand for a moment, and the battlefield was in chaos. Menachel rode first into the camp and set fire everywhere.
The cloth tents were quickly set on fire, but the dark, windless night prevented the sparks from turning into a blaze that stretched across the entire camp. However, the rebel camp was thrown into chaos for a moment.
Occasionally, soldiers holding weapons rushed out of the tent, but they seemed at a loss when faced with their companions fleeing in all directions. They did not know where their commander was, nor did they know who to attack. Without organization or orders, it was impossible to form an effective counterattack force with their own strength alone.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Menachel led his team to kill dozens of people. A group of cavalrymen were quietly separated and led more than a hundred soldiers on foot to charge outside the camp, while he himself led another 46 knights on foot to charge left and right, constantly creating chaos. The spacious plain turned into a racecourse at this time.
“What’s going on? Stay still!”
In the camp’s main tent, a knight who had just put on his armor ran out in dishevel. Seeing the chaos in the camp, he was so angry that his mustache trembled. He grabbed a guard who had not yet put on his armor and shouted, “Why are you running? Don’t run! Where is your chivalry?”
The guards were relieved when they saw their commander appear, and they responded immediately. At the same time, another guard came over on horseback.
“Lord Izkaga, please retreat immediately… there are more than a thousand enemies.”
“Nonsense!” Izkaga glared and shouted. He grabbed the warhorse that the guard had brought with him, jumped on the horse’s back, held the rope with one hand and drew the sword from his waist with the other hand: “Come with me to gather the soldiers and organize a counterattack.”
Although the sounds of horse hooves and fighting could be heard faintly all around, and flames could be seen in the distance, the commander did not think that the number of enemy soldiers who had raided the camp was equal to that of his own side, otherwise, this place, as the main tent, would not have been without even a trace of damage.
“It’s too late. The enemy is rushing this way.”
“We can’t let the sacrifices of the fallen heroes go to waste. The precious time they bought for me is the chance to turn defeat into victory!”
The guard who was scolded by Izkaga at the beginning was excited, and his blood was boiling because of Izkaga’s wonderful speech. The guard who came later was obviously more experienced. He kicked his horse’s belly and rushed out to explore the way.
“Withdraw from this camp first, and then make long-term plans.”
Izkaga turned around and ordered the stunned guards behind him to chase after them. Although the total number of the rebels was more than 10,000, they came from different kingdoms and were divided into camps. Although each camp was not far away, it would take time for reinforcements to arrive. Izkaga, who was in charge of 3,000 knights, understood this well – even if he did nothing, the enemy would at most kill a hundred people and then withdraw, and all he had to do was to ensure that he would not be sacrificed.
Anyway, the camp where he was stationed was not an important place for storing military equipment. There was nothing here except soldiers.
On the other hand, Menachel, who had almost walked around the camp, did not pursue the deserters. Even though the enemy was so disorganized that they could hardly organize any effective counterattack, every knight around him was already tired, and one could tell that there had been a reduction in numbers without even counting.
His purpose of raiding the camp was not to kill the enemy. When he heard the shouting and killing in the distance, Menachel immediately gave orders. In order to make his voice carry farther in the noisy environment, Menachel shouted at the top of his voice: “Retreat.”
At the command, the cavalrymen who were left behind began to turn around and run towards the distant city gate. The rebels behind them outnumbered them by a large margin, but no one dared to chase them, allowing dozens of cavalrymen to file out.
The rebels were stunned by the night attack, and most of them were scared away. Those who had the courage to fight were chopped down by Menachel first, and their swords, which were of average quality, had already been discarded because of the rolled blades. Who would come to chase them at this time?
Outside the city of Bilú, Gawain’s figure gradually became clear, but Agravain, who came with him, had disappeared. Looking at the half-open city gate, Menachel knew that his bet was right. Gawain saw Menachel running towards him and nodded symbolically.
Menachel was the first to enter the city of Bilú through the half-open city gate.
