Chapter Ten: Assault pt. 2

The tunnel was small making us file through in a single file line. Adonis was at the lead with me right behind him. It was dangerous for me to be all the way up front but since I might be sending all these men to die it is only fair that I am going in with them. If nothing else seeing their prince and commander fighting besides them will inspire courage and bravery.

Adonis signaled us to halt. We were now at the end of the tunnel where two thick logs held up the thin layer of dirt and grass. 

"Go." 

At my command Adonis kicked the two supports causing the the roof to collapse giving us our opening. 

"Knights of Orpheus on me!" I shout to all those that can hear and charge after Adonis.

The courtyard was mostly empty a devoid of life. The vast majority of guardsmen would be at the palisades or the curtain wall itself which worked to our advantage. Our team of fifty split into multiple teams to complete their goals. My team was the largest with twenty while the rest were split into teams of ten. My team was going to capture the gate house while the other teams were going to clear the towers and walls to stop any archer fire into our main army. Each team had a member that carried a large flag that they would fly over the towers and walls to demoralize the enemy below.

"Adonis lead the way to the gate house we need to be fast." Adonis nodded and lead our contingent forward up a long wooden stairway the reached to the second floor of a tower. Nobody spotted us yet which meant we had the element of surprise.

Adonis positioned himself infront of the wooden door at the top of the stairs I stood ready to charge in after him.

The door made an awful crashing sound as Adonis kicked it down with the mighty force of his foot. He charged into the unsuspecting occupants and I followed after him. There were six in total none of them were heavily armored most with maybe a helmet and chainmail. They would be the peasant levies that make up back bone of most armies in the world without any training and barely paid. They were no match for knights that trained most of their lives; the peasants spears and shabby clubs couldn't hope to pierce or dent the heavy steel armor we were all clad in.

Adonis took two in the first minute his greatsword cleaved the first man in two then impaled the other through the chest making a sickly wet sound as it sliced through his organs. My mace caved in the skull of the third before he even realized what was happening. The rest of the knights that filled the tower killed the rest. 

Adonis took ten men to clear the third and final floor of the tower while I took ten to the first. There were three men in the bottom room. It was a storeroom of sorts but instead foodstuffs and general necessities it was chalked full of ammunition and spare weapons. 

The three men were semi prepared for us after hearing the commotion above. One charged me with a spear before I could get fully off of the stairs. I level my shield equal with the spear and successfully defend myself. I don't give him a chance to strike again; charging him with my shield infront of me I knock him down to the floor then being my mace into his jaw crushing it and knock him out if not kill him.

I barely manage to block a blow from a sword to my right. The sudden attack makes me stagger for a second giving the man time to swing again. Before the blow falls an axe digs into his shoulder cleaving halfway into his chest. The man manages a scream before dropping to the floor dead. I nod in thanks to the knight that saved me who returns my nod in kind. I will remember him if he survives.

We link back up with Adonis on the floor we entered. So far we have lost none and haven't had any serious injuries. It is a good start. We take positions by the door that leads to the wall. There was bound to be more men walls proper but they would mainly be lightly armed archers.I order Two knights to the front of the group; they have large tower shields that will protect them better than what the rest of us carry.

"Go"

The knights throw open the door and advance along the wall shields up and ready. They come into contact immediately and start bashing and stabbing their way through the group of assailants. It is hard to see how the fight is going with the two men in front but the screams and shouts indicate we are winning. The knight in front of me knocks a man over the wall giving me and opening to get a hit on a different man. I can't tell if it did anything.

The Same knight drops to his knees a moment later and falls of the unguarded side of the wall into the courtyard below; an arrow is jutting out of his visor a lucky shot felled the man. I take his position and start bludgeoning the men in front of me. The occasional jab from Adonis helps to thin out the crowd. 

After another few minutes the wall in clear letting us move to the door that leads to the gate house. We only lost two in exchange for a dozen it is a good trade. Adonis takes the lead again ready to finish our mission.

The gatehouse is composed of two stone towers with a wooden rectangular room connecting the two. In the center of the wooden room was our goal. All we needed to do was shut the gate and trap the garrison in the first wall. Adonis kicks the door down as he did the first.

I go in after him. There has to be an equal number of men as us. It would be a hard fight.

I Charge the closest man to me before he can draw his sword. My shield bashes into his face blooding his nose and stunning him. Before I can swing on him a blow from my right dents my armor but fails to do any damage. The man who attacked me was a proper knight whose armor matched what I had. However my weapon was a mace which was great against armor where as his was a sword that was both unable to pierce my armor unless hitting a weak spot and to large to be comfortably used in the chaotic melee.

My Mace strikes the right shoulder warping the steel armor and breaking a bone. My second strike bangs against his helmet caving the great helm in killing the man beneath. 

A blow hits my side once again ineffective. I turn to face the original man who had now recovered from the broken nose. He deflects my first swing but not the second. The attack that connects, connects with his chest causing the assailant to drop to his knees as he tries to gasp air from collapsed lungs.

Adonis kills twice as many as me in less time every swing of his killing and maiming a sorry lad. He lets all their attacked hit home on his armor simply uncaring of any damage.

One of the knights to my left takes a spear to the throat killing him instantly. Even with out losses it is clear we are winning. I avenge the fallen man by killing his murderer with a weak attack. If the archer was wearing armor he would have lived. Luckily for me he was only wearing his regular clothing.

I rotate to the back of the knights to catch my breath. Looking out the arrow slit to my left I see the men from the second wave emerging from the tunnel to reinforce us. They are engaged by a handful of men that attempted to secure the courtyard.

I turn back to my own men. Our own numbers have thinned out some but there is only a handful of the enemy left. 

"Close the gate while we finish them off. Don't let anyone else make it to the keep." Two men head my orders and make it to the lever system that is used to open and close the gate. They start pushing it clockwise making the floor rumble as the gate lowers.

After we the remaining enemies are cleared out we secure the doors. Adonis takes a handful of men to finish off any men above or below us. I join a pair of knight clearing out the top of the left tower. There was only one man in there who was easily dispatched. I leave the two knights and make it to the top of the tower to see the surrounding battlefield.

Simons assault seemed to be progressing well although the red and white colors of Orpheus was much more visible in the field of dead than the yellow and black of Valburgh. The drills I had order Simon to conduct with the infantry were well worth it. As practiced the heavier armored men at arms had managed to make defensive pockets around the siege ladders allowing further men to reinforce them unmolested.

With the archer fire diminished from our actions the pockets were growing larger and larger. Our losses would certainly be greater but with the way things were going it was only a matter of time before our victory.

Everything is going good. Our flags are already flying over all of the designated towers and the gate is closed. Now we just need to secure the rest of the keep and force the surrender.

I returned to adonis below. 

"Eight of you stay here and protect the gatehouse with your lives. The rest come with me." There was no point in leaving to many here. If they were able to make it to the gate house it meant we had lost the walls and were probably already dead.

The fighting in the courtyard was mostly over by the time we got there with only a few scant pockets remaining. Adonis made quick work of most of them.

It only took another hour for the rest of the castle to be secured. An order had been sent through the tunnels to order the reserve units of archers to take positions on the wall and shoot the rear of the defenders stuck in the first defensive wall. The rest of the knights not in a predetermined defensive position were gathered in the courtyard preparing to seize the keep. There was sixty knights in total more would be in the keep already unless Nikolas had failed and was killed or captured. 

"Alright men. Let's go capture us a castle."