I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 328 Ljubljana with Flesh and Blood (2)

   Sorry for being late. I finished writing yesterday's chapter and felt dissatisfied, this chapter has been rewritten in its entirety...

  ———

This kind of scene reminds little Louis of the painting scene of LeBlanc and others for no reason. Behind him, there is a whole family of painters who are funded and supported by the royal family who never spare the paint. Throw it on the canvas, then gently wipe it away, and finally touch it with a brush. Sometimes, some colors and shapes do not meet their expectations, and they stir up more new paints and use them to cover the original colors. .

The commanders of the coalition and the Ottomans also seemed to have the same intention. Groups of slaves and mercenaries were driven into the battlefield. No one cared about their lives and deaths, and no one cared about winning or losing. Everyone knew that this kind of battle was nothing. Meaning, to put it in a mouthful: "I put in these consumables because I don't want the enemy's consumables to consume my soldiers."

After a wave of these so-called "soldiers" was consumed, the supervising team retreated to the castle hill in an orderly manner - the hill where the Ljubljana castle was located. After they retreated to the first line of defense, the Grand Vizier. The flag of the horsetail finally appeared slowly in the distance, and this **** prelude came to an end.

The moans that could be heard before it got dark were lost at night. The July temperature made the corpses ferment an unpleasant smell, so the Ottomans first cleared the hills before digging trenches and masonry fort. The battlefield below, where they scribbled together the dead and doused them with grease, the fire lit up people's faces, and sometimes debilitating groans could be heard. Burn to death alive.

In addition to these ominous lights, there are the torches lit by the craftsmen who worked all night, who were to assemble cannons for the Ottomans, the Ottoman Turks were not inferior to the Europas in thermal weapons, and earlier, they It was even possible to pour gun barrels on the field - but before the time of Coplyli, the Ottomans lost this composure, and all Ahmed could do was to ensure that he carried more than a hundred light and heavy cannons.

These cannons are all disassembled into barrels, brackets, etc. and pulled to the battlefield by ox carts and carriages. It takes a lot of time to reassemble them. The Grand Vizier ordered him to wear yellow boots and a top hat. The guards brought a box of gold coins. As long as the assembly of a cannon is completed, the light one can grab one gold coin, and the heavy one can grab two gold coins. With such a reward, the craftsmen worked hard all night, sweating profusely. It is said that when someone stumbled to the box and grabbed a handful of gold coins, they fell to the ground and stopped breathing.

   Such a death will certainly not move the Grand Vizier Ahmed. If he loses here, he will be hanged by a bowstring when he returns to Istanbul. He lay on the couch, half asleep and half awake for a while, then got up at dawn, and crossed the town below the mountain, which was Castle Hill and Ljubljana Castle on Castle Hill, which was originally a castle in armor. The giant, now the French general Vauban has spiked his armor, and the combination of bunkers, trenches, low walls and slopes makes this hill look like a huge hedgehog. How hard it would be to get down this castle.

   "What are those?" Ahmed asked suddenly: "Those are like thorns? They don't grow naturally, do they?"

"There will be no black iron thorns growing in the ground," said the Grand Master beside him, who could see far away without relying on a telescope like Ahmed. "It's an artifact." They saw It is after the steam engine was manufactured, another product that was mass-produced—iron wire.

Iron wire has been around for hundreds of years. Craftsmen use pliers to pull out the iron wire, wrap the iron wire around a tube with a fixed diameter, cut it to make a coil, and then weave it into a chain mail. After the steam engine was completely eliminated, the steam engine was infinitely powerful, sleepless, and could make iron wire day and night. These iron wires were used on the battlefield for the first time - before the war between Flanders and the Netherlands, when it came France is the attacking party, and because of insufficient production, it has not been used in large quantities - it is unfamiliar to both the coalition and the Ottoman Turks.

   But even if Ljubljana suddenly erected a big tree of black iron, it could not stop the progress of the war. The Grand Master said goodbye to him, and then he had to predict a suitable date for the war. Grand Vizier Ahmed couldn't hide his uneasiness. He returned to the tent, pondered for a while, walked to the locked chest, opened it, and in the grand vizier's box, full of Precious ornaments, silky clothing, and ornate weapons, his hands resting on the trunk for a while, never making up his mind—if anyone was by his side, one could see that the most noble man after the sultan was staring at him It was a machete with a silver-encrusted scabbard.

The scabbard of this machete is very delicate, but because of its exquisiteness, it is inconspicuous among a dozen machetes inlaid with gold and silver. Ahmed hesitated for a while before taking it out and hanging it on his belt. superior.

   As soon as he lifted the curtain, he was startled, because there was actually a person standing in the tent outside - a dazed waiter.

   "Why are you here?" Ahmed asked.

"Sir," the waiter said respectfully, "Master asked me to deliver..." He couldn't finish what he said next, and he couldn't finish it, because Ahmed had already drawn out his knife and wiped his throat. He fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, his blood dyed the silk carpet mixed with golden yellow and dark green into a dark red.

   Ahmed recognized him, his master had a brother who served by the Grand Master, and Ahmed could not risk it.

  ———

The next morning, the light artillery brought by the Ottoman Turks had been assembled. They tried to bombard the bunkers and drove the shells into the trenches. The walls of these bunkers were unexpectedly thick, and the long and narrow shooting holes made it impossible for the shells to shoot. The front of the lower-level trench had a forward sloping **** to slow down the power of the shells, which was effective but disappointing. Especially when the first Azap infantry broke into the trenches and occupied the bunker, only to find that most of the soldiers inside had been withdrawn from the connecting trenches.

The barbed wire in front of the trench also caused a lot of trouble for Azap and the cavalry, especially the low-level cavalry who were converted from herdsmen and Tatars. They did not have armor and were covered with wild beast fur, and they were easily caught by the barbed wire. Pulled, pierced by bullet. Without the constant harassment they gave to the people in the castle, the pressure on the defenders would be much less, and even the soldiers in the bunkers and trenches suffered very little losses, they could even be said to be orderly and calm. The ground retreated to a safer place, and after repairing it, it was put into a new battle again.

   This situation did not change until the Ottomans' heavy artillery was formed. The heavy artillery could suppress the defenders' counterattack and destroy the bunkers. The Ottomans began to dismantle the barbed wire and fill the trenches.

Both Grand Vizier Ahmed and the Grand Master looked at the barbed wire that had been taken down, and anyone with eyes could see how useful the metal thorns were for defense—circling every one or two inches The sharp barbed wire can bite into a person's flesh as deeply as the teeth of a cat or dog if you are not careful. It is difficult to break free just by pulling on the clothes.

   This is still aimed at infantry. If it is aimed at cavalry, the limbs of horses are more vulnerable to iron thorns, which can cause disability or even death.

   "If I were a Christian general, I would leave them for later battles," said Ahmed, looking at them.

   "Maybe they think they can stop us in Ljubljana," said the Grand Master, ignoring Ahmed's gloomy face.

  ——

The battle after    was brutal and numbingly lengthy.

After the official war, although guns and artillery have been popularized in the armies of both sides, the use of trenches and city walls, ladders and siege vehicles still occupied most of the battle situation, but it was no longer arrows that whizzed past. It was bullets, and people threw metal grenades at each other instead of crock pots, but a large part of the cannons were still filled with granite bullets, and they could even outperform those filled with gunpowder when attacking the city walls. Similarly, some of the shells that the defenders of the castle fought back were also made of cement. These shells, which can only be used as training shells and targeted strikes after hundreds of years, have the same kinetic energy as real stone shells. The amount of gunpowder required is similar.

General Vauban strengthened a part of the city wall of Ljubljana Castle earlier to house the cannons, so as to avoid the ridiculous accident that the city wall has collapsed before the enemy has been defeated. Of course, the city wall, bunkers, and artillery shells all require a lot of Cement, but having tasted the sweetness of the war between Flanders and Holland, French merchants even provided countless limestone, coal ash, iron slag, etc. without any promise and mortgage. Wait.

Their initiative turned the offensive and defensive battle of Ljubljana Castle into another war of attrition. The Ottoman army of 250,000 could make any king tremble, and Ahmed only relied on the superiority of numbers. Even though the cannons in Ljubljana never stopped roaring and roaring, and the bullets poured down like a torrential rain, he continued to issue orders to attack. Behind these soldiers were the commanders with sticks and whips, and behind the commanders was Yeni. Cherry and Mutferika Corps, any deserter who broke out of the line of the Overseer would be beheaded on the spot.

Coupled with the promise given by the Grand Vizier that they could loot and slaughter at will after the capture of the castle, the Azaps rushed forward frantically like a group of beasts who had lost their minds. They were like folds under the city wall. The silk was generally piled up, and the number was so great that the defenders in the city had to burn their corpses so that the enemy would not be able to climb the city wall the next day.

At the same time, the Ottomans used the usual method to build huge siege vehicles—they built siege towers that exceeded the city wall when they attacked Istanbul. The trees were felled and burned by Vauban, slow and undisguised, so they were soon discovered and destroyed by the defenders; but the Ottomans were equally good at digging trenches, and without the threat of bunkers, they kept digging the trenches. The trenches stretched to the edge of the defenders' fire and dug down, and were covered with stacks of cowhide tents to defend against the shells, and although the defenders dropped a lot of kerosene, they posed little threat.

The Ottomans, who had an overwhelming number of people, continued to harass them day and night while digging. General Vauban persisted for a whole week. In just seven days, he looked like he had aged more than ten years, with red eyes and sunken cheeks, worthy of consolation. It was Crown Prince Louis who had returned to Kamnic three days ago—the fall of Ljubljana Castle was a foregone conclusion, and Crown Prince Louis had finally seen the real war, so there was no need to stay in the way until the last moment.

  Death accompanies people all the time, endlessly.

Vauban has been closely watching the movements of the Ottomans. In the interval between battles, such as the Grand Vizier, they still need to pray and fast. At this time, the Ottoman offensive will not stop, but because there is no commander, they Will only obey the previous order, which is to fight to the death, which is also one of the weaknesses of the Ottoman army - he turned and said in a hoarse voice: "We can retreat."

Vauban has long prepared a secret passage from Castle Hill to the Sava River. Although there are inevitably Ottoman cavalry roaming here, they are mainly responsible for the tasks of police sentries and patrols, and their own strength is not strong. , there are not many people, the last part of the army withdrawing from the Ljubljana castle passed the last barrier - the Sava River, and when they turned to look at the castle they abandoned, they saw a white Smoke and dust ran through the sky.

  ———

Ljubljana Castle, like all the castles that the Ottomans attacked before, blocked all the city gates with stones and cement from the beginning. The Azaps who attacked the castle could only use ladders and siege vehicles to climb the city wall. , At the beginning, they were even confused, because suddenly there were no people on the city wall, but in previous wars, it was not uncommon for the defenders to collapse and abandon the castle to escape. They were like hyenas hungry for flesh and blood. He ran down the city wall so quickly, and ran towards the nearest mansion, hoping to find food, money, and trembling citizens inside.

  More and more soldiers climbed the city wall and joined the looting team.

To these Azaps, who were only better than slaves, almost everything was good, only a few Transylvanians ran to the center of the castle, where the main tower was, where Whether it belongs to the owner of the castle or the general of the defending army, there will be a lot of valuable things left. When they see that the stairs in front of the main tower gate have been withdrawn, and the door is hung with a big lock, it is even more certain. Their own thoughts, so they moved the stepping stones, pried the lock and rushed in.

They did find some loose coins, utensils and ornaments here, more soldiers poured in, they ran frantically in each room, and a reluctant Azap finally found the sound coming from under his feet. There was something wrong with the sound, and he carefully avoided the sight of the others and walked down a hidden ladder.

All castles have rooms, warehouses, and cisterns underground, and this one was no exception. Azap closed his eyes, letting himself get used to the dim light underground—a faint fire came from the end of the passage, shining brightly. After breaking the wall, he walked over, and as soon as he turned around, he was suddenly enlightened. It was a huge warehouse.

  An old woman sitting on a wooden box holding a torch, she saw a big Ottoman beard, and was not alarmed at all. "Oh," she said, "I thought I would have to wait longer."

   She lowered her hand, and the torch lit the fuse on the side.

  Azap's smile stagnated on his face. He may have thought a lot at this moment, but no one can know anymore.

  ———

  In the offensive and defensive battle of Ljubljana Castle, the Ottomans lost nearly 10,000 people, but in the subsequent explosion, they lost a similar number of people and lost the castle.

   (end of this chapter)