Chapter 608: Siege of Orleans
The heavy rain lasted for half the night until dawn the next day. The soldier who had accidentally fallen asleep while hiding from the rain rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked out of the guard room on the city wall and came to the city wall.
At this moment, he was instantly frozen in place, because he saw that the empty and deserted land he had seen at dusk yesterday was now crowded with the army from the north, who were building a large number of tents at a relatively safe distance.
The army's tents were so numerous that you could hardly see the end of them, and there were countless people coming and going. What was even more frightening was that the catapults that the Huns had learned from the Romans were neatly arranged together like a city wall.
"Look, look, the Huns are coming! The Huns are coming!"
The frightened soldiers rushed into the guard room like crazy and woke up all the guards who were still sleeping.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
The panicked officer knocked and pushed open the door of Bishop Anenus, which woke Anenus up from his sleep and made him sit up.
"The Huns, the Huns are coming!"
"How is it possible? There was such a heavy rain yesterday, even God couldn't stop their way?" Anenus couldn't help but sigh, but now was not the time to sigh.
When I went out, the streets had already lost order. Civilians were crowded on the streets. They were like headless flies, at a loss what to do when disaster struck.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way now, don't block our way!"
Their confusion blocked the soldiers' advance, and in order to support the city walls, they had no choice but to swing sticks and severely punish the citizens who did not dodge in time.
In an instant, the whole street was filled with cries and sounds of beating. Unarmed, they were unable to resist and could only endure it silently.
"Command all men who can bear arms, even slaves and prisoners, that if they can help in the resistance, and if they can survive this defense, God will forgive their sins."
The soldiers forced their way north along the road to the northern city wall. Anenus watched from afar and saw that Attila's huge army had slowly begun to appear on the outskirts of the camp. They did not concentrate all their strength but instead sent out several thousand people to the city of Orleans.
All they saw was a Hun rider with a black flag on his back riding slowly to the gate of Orleans. At that time, the walls of Orleans were crowded with defensive soldiers. The soldiers in the first row were holding bows and arrows, their eyes fixed on the Hun rider who appeared in front of them in a swagger and was getting closer and closer.
"Romans!"
The Hun looked up at Anenus standing on the city gate tower and continued in fluent Latin: "Our king, Attila, needs to negotiate with you now. As you can see, we are so numerous and so unstoppable that even your gods are hiding in the clouds in the sky with fear. Give up, Romans. Your gods have given up on you, but my king can give you a second chance. Give up your corrupt and cowardly Augustus and throw yourself into the arms of my king, Attila. My king will promise that you will still enjoy your current privileges."
Faced with the persuasion of the Hun envoys, everyone turned their eyes to Bishop Anenus. How Anenus would choose in the face of such temptation became a topic of common concern for everyone. He must be very conflicted now. After all, no one could guarantee how long such a defensive war would last.
"Shut up, you barbarian!"
What was unexpected was that Anenus chose to refuse without even a second thought. He pointed at the Huns under the city and shouted angrily: "Put away your hypocritical mercy. God will not accept your lies and the hypocrisy of your king. I have asked Aetius for help. His army will appear behind you soon. When the time comes, you will bear the wrath of the Romans, damn barbarians."
"Why do people always make blind and dangerous decisions because they cannot see the facts clearly?" The Hun envoy shook his head helplessly and continued, "Then, Romans, I will bring your original words to my king Attila. I believe that it is time for you to bear the wrath of my king!"
After saying this, the Hun envoy spat fiercely on the ground, then turned his horse around and headed towards the attacking Hun coalition forces, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
The soldiers stationed on the walls of Orleans looked at Anenus in silence for a long time, and then burst into thunderous cheers.
The soldiers praised Anenus's bravery and laughed at the Huns' hesitation in fighting which led to such a futile effort. But more of them were determined to die. After all, they should have understood that if the Huns could not get what they wanted, the Romans would not be able to hold on.
The Hun envoy came to the front of Attila's attacking army and said a few words to their front-line commander. Then the barbarian commander on the front line drew out his iron sword and pointed it at Orleans in front of him and roared loudly!
“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”
His roar was echoed by hundreds of people. The barbarian soldiers behind him kept beating their shields, making rhythmic sounds in coordination with their war cries, which vibrated the eardrums of all the Roman soldiers present.
"Okay, children, they are coming, they are burning, killing, looting, conquering and destroying everything they encounter. We have no way to retreat and nowhere to escape. In this case, we might as well face this fear directly and let us feel whether Attila's wrath can destroy our city walls!" Anenus didn't know where he got the courage from. He raised his right hand high and clenched his fist, shouting loudly to the soldiers on both sides. The inspiring words made the soldiers cheer in unison, and everyone's frown relaxed slightly. Fortunately, they were not defeated by the fear spread by Attila.
“Ka-ka-ka…”
The catapults behind the Hun army roared in unison, and huge flying stones drew an arc in the sky and headed towards the walls of Orleans.
“Dangdangdang…”
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Flying rocks continued to hit the solid walls of Orleans. This ancient wall was built with thick stones. The Romans' walls have always been one of their symbols of pride, because the thick walls made the siege weapons of the known world unable to shake.
Even so, the impact of the stones on the wall still caused a lot of debris to splash out. Some stones even passed through the gap in the middle of the parapet and hit the soldiers standing in it.
“Crack!”
The stone instantly smashed the soldier's head, and the splattered brain matter and blood covered the face and body of the soldier behind him.
"Hold on! Hold on!"
The officers held onto the wall and shouted over and over again to comfort the soldiers on both sides.
At this time, the barbarian archers were seen rushing out from the army formation. When they came within range, they poured arrows like a rainstorm at the Romans crowded on the city wall.
All this was just to cover the advancement of their siege vehicles.
"Attack! Attack!"
The barbarian general brandished the Germanic iron sword in his hand and roared loudly with a hoarse voice, and the army carrying ladders rushed towards the wall of Orleans.
(End of this chapter)