Of course, a long siege was out of the question, even a two or three-day siege I did not take into account ... The city had to be conquered in one day, each additional hour only increased the risk of danger to us. Unfortunately, we didn't have a ram or ballista with us, the only thing left for me was to get the gates from the inside... After returning to the camp, I called One-Eye and Torstein to my place.
- How are you gonna do that? Do you have a plan? (One-eyed)
- During the day I will enter the city and wait the day in some inn or church, at night I will sneak up to the gate and try to open it. Our troops must be hidden not far away. (Ulf)
- Guards? The gate will definitely be well... (Torstein)
- I'll do what I have to and I hope I can do it quietly ... Most importantly. We don't murder, rob and ra.pe anyone after entering the city. (Ulf)
- Then why are we going in there anyway? (One-eyed)
- Because I say so... You'll see later and you won't be disappointed. You have to get as close to the city as possible, when everything is ready, I will give you a torch signal to attack. (Ulf)
After the conversation was over, I took a short nap ... if everything went well for the next twenty-four hours, I probably won't get some rest ... sometimes it seems to me that I'm working myself to death.
It took me two hours to get to the city, dressed in ordinary clothes did not arouse much interest either from the guards or the residents ... I directed my first steps to the church, maybe I will be able to get some additional information. I introduced myself again as Gilles de Rais, told the same story except that I am here with the army. The local parish priest was much more willing to help than his colleague in the previous village.
Of course, at the mention of the Pope, Charlemagne, and that they will surely not forget to reward those who help liberate Christians, I could do what I wanted with him ... he was like a wax figure in my hands.
He told me where the most important people lived in the city, he also gave me the most valuable information ... the gate was not locked at night, the guards had it closed if they noticed anything suspicious ... all I had to do was not let it happen.
I was surprised at first, but this was logical. They could expect an attack from the west, the city was not near the border and if there were any fights, information about them would have reached the city earlier. Merchants, on the other hand, could come to town at any time of the day or night.
In the evening I went to the gate and began to observe its surroundings ... A patrol consisting of four guards passed by the gate at intervals of 20-30 minutes, four more guards were watching at the gate itself, and I saw only two people on the wall. There weren't many of them, especially since I could attack when the patrol was far away.
Unfortunately, I did not have any weapons with me, for the sake of safety I left everything in the camp... I was wondering who to attack first ... four people at the gate or two on the wall. If I attack four, those on the wall will surely see it and raise the alarm. If I attack those two on the wall ... but are there only two of them? I wasn't sure. From where I was, I only saw them ... but there could be more of them.
They were armed as standard, each of them had ... an Arabic sword, a hauberk, a bronze helmet, a spear and round shields made of wood and leather.
There was no good solution in this situation, but the gate was the priority. Even if the people on the wall raise the alarm, my army is bigger ... as soon as they enter the city it will be mine. I waited until the patrol passed the gate and, to be sure, a few more minutes for them to go to a safe distance ... I headed towards the four guards.
I was quickly noticed, one of the guards started shouting at me, I could only guess that he wanted me to stop ... I went a few more steps and stopped. The guard who screamed grabbed the spears, now he started walking towards me, the other guards stayed in their places just watching the situation unfold.
- من أنت وماذا تريد هنا ؟! (Guard)
When he was very close ... a golden glow appeared on my hands ... I grabbed his spear with my left hand and hit him in the chest with all my strength. I felt his chain mail crack, then my fist began to dig deeper into his body ... I felt warm blood on my skin, spongy lungs and bones ... probably fragments of ribs and a spine.
The whole event took seconds. Before his companions rushed to his aid, I freed my hand and took his spear. I ran towards the closest guard. I was going to pierce him with a spear, but he happened to cover himself with a shield ... the spearhead pierced the wood, and then the man's body ... unfortunately the spear tree broke under the force of the impact. I wanted to pick up the dead man's sword, but when I tried to do so, I felt the blade cut through my cheek, blood rushed to my mouth ...
I jumped back and retreated to the body of the guard I killed first ... picked up his shield and sword. I managed to cover myself with the shield when I felt two blows of the sword ... The opponents stood over me and there is a small chance that they will let me rise.
I made a cut just above the ground ... after a while one of the guards was lying on the ground with a severed foot.
The last of my opponents, seeing two killed and one wounded comrade, decided to run away, he abandoned his shield and sword. I did not have time to play cat and mouse, especially since the people on the wall raised the alarm.
I moved towards the gate, grabbed the torch and started waving it.
Blood was pouring into my mouth all the time ... not only from my cut cheek, but also from my torn gums ... I lost two more teeth.