The Desperate Counterattack (2)

Saladin had anticipated that his army would charge in fiercely once the wall collapsed and engage in a bloody battle with the few remaining defenders. He could take the castle by this afternoon if luck was on his side.

But after a thunderous roar, everything changed.

The roars came one after another, and the shouts of battle suddenly ceased. The distant castle seemed to transform into a colossal beast, swallowing Saladin's forces whole.

"What's happening?" Saladin felt a sense of unease. His men hurried to investigate, and after a while, they brought back a routed soldier who had fled from the city.

Saladin managed to conceal his disgust; the soldier's once bright armor was now covered in blood and white tissue fluid, with bits of flesh hanging in the gaps of his armor. Saladin, who had experienced numerous bloody battles over the past decade, couldn't recall any that had left soldiers in such a gruesome state.

Before Saladin could ask, the dazed soldier shouted, "Thunder! Fire! Death!"

These seemingly mystical words left Saladin baffled. But the soldier's mental state was so frantic that it was clear no more information could be extracted from him.

At that moment, shouts of battle came from the city gate. The castle defenders had followed the routed soldiers and charged out through the outer gate.

Saladin was taken aback: Where was his attacking army? How could the castle defenders have the upper hand?

But the situation didn't allow Saladin time to ponder. The routed soldiers, as if driven by a flood of beasts, scattered the formation of the outer soldiers. Meanwhile, the castle defenders were incredibly high-spirited. In a very short time, the battle at the city gate turned into a one-sided rout.

"Form up the cavalry!" Saladin drew his precious blade and pointed into the distance. Immediately, a group of Mamluk elite cavalry rushed to support the city gate.

On the castle wall, Norn felt quite helpless. The day's achievements had already been substantial; almost all the enemy forces between the inner and outer walls had surrendered. But whether it was Otto's excellent encouragement or the courage the wooden cannon had given them, the castle defenders, their blood boiling, had charged out!

"Quick, quick, quick!" Norn kept urging Harold to push the cannon carriage. After all, Norn knew that once outside the city, Saladin would send cavalry to attack. Without his wooden cannon, no matter how high the defenders' morale was, they were doomed, and the victory within reach would slip away.

What worried Norn even more was whether the wooden cannon, which had already fired twice, could withstand another shot.

"Never mind! Let's go all out!" Norn shook his head vigorously, his steps becoming resolute once again.

As the cannon carriage was pushed outside the city, the defenders' morale soared even higher, and their weapons chopped down on the enemy with even more ferocity.

The enemy outside the city was puzzled. Why could a strange piece of wood give the castle defenders such a huge boost?

Compared to the defenders' high spirits, Norn was burning with anxiety inside because he saw a group of about 100 elite cavalry galloping over.

"Push it over there!" Norn looked at his wooden cannon, praying in his heart: Please hold up, wooden cannon!

Norn's cannon team and the cavalry were in a race against time, but fortunately, Harold's strong muscles didn't disappoint Norn. The cannon team arrived at the front line first and got ready.

30 meters... 20 meters...

Norn could already see the mole next to the leading cavalryman's eye. It was then that he lit the goose feather fuse of the wooden cannon.

Fortunately, the gods had heard Norn's prayer. The wooden cannon made its final defiant roar, leaving its last, stunning performance in front of the world.

A storm of iron rain swept through and the heavily armored cavalry were pierced one after another, bursting into clouds of blood mist in front of Norn. The close-range thunderous explosion made the warhorses go mad, with many gentle horses even throwing their riders off and running away on their own.

The elite Mamluk cavalry's charge melted like snow under the wooden cannon's flames.

In the distance, Saladin's horse reared up in fright, almost throwing Saladin off. It took a while for Saladin to calm his mount.

"What is that!" Saladin looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief!

"Thunder!" The castle defenders shouted the emotions they had been suppressing for days erupting at this moment. They fought fiercely, shouting the name of thunder.

At this moment, the second cannon carriage was also pushed out of the city gate. The Saracen infantry, who had seen the power of the cannon, immediately wavered.

"Boom!"

When the second cannon also emitted a flash of fire and knocked down dozens of people, the Saracen line completely collapsed. At this moment, they ran like frightened chicks, wishing they had more legs to run faster.

Weapons were long discarded, and armor was thrown off during the run. They didn't dare to look back, otherwise, they would find that there were only about 500 people behind them.

Seeing the defenders' blood boiling again, Norn quickly found Otto.

"Uncle, stop chasing and retreat now!"

In Otto's puzzled gaze, Norn poured a bucket of cold water on him: the wooden cannon couldn't be used anymore. A striking crack had already appeared on the cannon's body.

After turning the tide, the cannon was already overburdened and at risk of exploding at any moment.

Hearing the explanation, Otto immediately stopped Norn from continuing.

"No! We must continue to pursue and charge at Saladin!" Otto, who had fought in bad wars for more than a decade, gave an opposite order.

He knew that if the defenders retreated, not only would their morale be lost, but experienced Saladin would also see through the trick.

The high-pitched horn was blown! The castle defenders were gathered, and the two cannon carriages were also concentrated, and they marched towards Saladin's royal banner with great fanfare.

Saladin, who had been standing at a distance, had been observing the wooden cannon all along as if he had seen something. But the defenders' fearless advance made him somewhat suspicious.

As the distance between the two sides closed, both Saladin and Norn began to get nervous.

Looking at the at least 500 most elite cavalry on the other side, Norn swallowed his saliva and bravely faced up.

Looking at the two black cannon barrels on the other side, Saladin was also very suspicious.

"Sultan, the other side must have used witchcraft!" a general said in a panic, "We should retreat to the camp first and defend ourselves with the camp!"

Saladin seemed not to hear the general's words and stared at the slowly approaching cannon.

He knew very well that it was not witchcraft but a weapon. And as long as it was a weapon, it must have its shortcomings. The shortcoming of this weapon was that after firing, a group of people had to be busy around it.

Saladin guessed that this weapon was like a catapult, and it needed preparation time before firing. If so, he could order the cavalry to charge in batches and destroy this weapon during the preparation gap.

But looking at Norn's slow pace of advance, Saladin was very hesitant: he dared not gamble. His country had millions of people, and it could gather tens of thousands of soldiers again after a few years of rest. Facing the Crusaders, he could lose many times.

But the premise was not to lose himself in the gamble.

Between the game and balance, Saladin finally made a choice.

"Retreat!"

Seeing Saladin's royal banner start to retreat, the last hope of the Saracens was shattered. All the Saracen soldiers were demoralized and ran towards the camp without looking back, no longer having the heart to fight against the castle defenders.

Seeing the Saracens retreating in full force, the big stone in Norn's heart finally fell. He finally defeated this enemy who had given him nightmares many times - Saladin.

In a good mood, Norn simply charged out of the formation, forcefully extended a middle finger, and shouted:

"Saladin, come on over!"