The Knight of Chivalry

Chapter 12

The attack began just as the night set in, the archers started firing at and over the walls with fire arrows from a few different sides and this caused a great deal of damage as they hit soldiers on the walls and most of the buildings on the other side of the wall were made of wood and had a thatch roof and so these fire arrows set them alight easily and this caused panic within the city as people tried to put these fires out. If the army had catapults they could cause more damage and fires by firing oil pots over the walls but they were too heavy to carry and difficult to construct on the battlefield. Once the archers and unleashed a few volleys into the city the men moved up from their positions moving as quickly as they could carrying the ladders or battering ram as they had a lot of ground to cross before they got to the walls or the gates and this gave the defenders time to kill some of them even if they were being hit by the arrows of archers they couldn’t hit all places of the walls and had a limited amount of ammunition. So the men joked quickly over no man’s land but still some fell to the arrows from the wall but they got to the wall and began putting the ladders up it, the battering ram was heavier to move and so was slower but it was protected on top so it was harder for the archers on the walls to hit them and they eventually got to the gates and started to ram them.

            Simon saw all of this as he went with the lords men who hauled a half dozen ladders to their section of the wall they had be tasked to go up. With him were around three hundred foot soldiers and five hundred of the militia men, they had lost some in the previous battle and others were with the lord and the cavalry who were going to be going through one of the gates. It took them at least ten minutes to cross the no man’s and they lost a few men to arrows as they did so but Simon blocked most of the arrows that were launched at him with his shield as they moved quickly across the land. Once they got to the wall the men hoisted the ladders and pushed them up against the wall and then of course they climbed up these ladders. Simon was one of the first ones up the ladder and he had to chuck his shield on his back as you needed both hands to help you climb quickly which he did, once he got to the top he drew his sword very quickly and went at the defenders who were on the top of the wall and he cut at them as fast as possible so that they didn’t kick down the ladder he got up and more men came up to help him kill these soldiers on the walls and they did this with quite efficient but the defenders still managed to kick one of the ladders off the wall and this crushed the few men who was climbing it and a few men that was standing below it. But after this Simon and the rest of the men dealt with the soldiers on the wall near their ladders and soon they had got all the men up on the walls and with this they gathered all together and proceeded towards the tower that they had been tasked to take over. Simon was in the leading line ranks of the men and they moved slowly along the wall and killing the soldiers on the wall with efficiency as they had a made a shield wall and the soldiers on the walls weren’t as organised and so were fleeing before them but they tried to stop them and fell before them under their blades. Simon being in the front line saw a lot of action and killing quite a few soldiers himself and he proved himself again with his skill in combat again and again and helped the other troops proceed along the wall. It took them a few minutes but they got to the tower and there they had to knock down the door which the defenders had barricaded to stop them so a few of the militia men were brought forwards with axes and they chopped through the wooded door in a matter of minutes and once they were through they charged in and took out the remaining defenders in it. With this done they went to the top and so signalled the army outside they had taken this tower. From the top of tower you could see how the battle was progressing, some of the other ladder soldiers had taking their towers whereas others still fought on the walls against large numbers of defenders. You could also see the forces gathering around the gates and you could guess they were almost broken down with this happening.

            Some of the men were left in the tower to defend it but the rest went down the stairs and out into the city as they followed the orders they had been given which was to kill the defenders and get to the town hall to capture the leader of the town. Between them and this target was a lot of streets or interlocking and it was very confusing and there were citizens out on the streets running away in panic from them and the fires and they had to be so careful not just to kill all of them but in the haze of battle these things happen they manly struck down the running men as they were the ones that possessed the greatest threat to them but some of the women died under their blades to as they were attacked by them. There were a few defenders in the streets to and they sprung surprise ambushes from buildings or coming from a side street they didn’t even know were there as the defenders knew this city and they did not and so these attacks caused them to move cautiously as they often killed a few of their number before they got the best of them. It took them over half an hour of these small conflicts before they reached the town centre and they found that the cavalry had already got here and was surrounding the place and there were many dead bodies on the floor but they could see the doors of the hall barricaded but there was a couple of men chopping at them. So they went and joined with this group of men and heard how the gates fell and how they galloped through them and cut them down and how they soon broke and fled before them and how they had rode triumphantly through the town to this square where they had dealt with the defenders here as you can see on the ground but the bitch governor had locked himself and a few men inside it and now they had to break more doors to deal with them. Soon the doors were broken down and they went rushing into it and killed the last few gourds in the hall and found the governor in his office cowering behind his desk like a little bitch and when they entered he messed himself and it stunk pretty bad but they dragged him out and laughed at him and then presented him to the king who had him chained up. They then went through the city and dealt with the last of the defenders and went pillaging and some men raping as the rewards of battle. Soon dawn broke out and the city was full of screams but most of the fires had died down now or had been put out as they wanted to keep this place intake and they had won a victory.