Chapter 610: Attacking Reval
The Livonian Conference finally concluded that it was necessary to form a four-nation alliance with Teutonic, Polish and Lithuanian forces to fight against Russia. However, when they were preparing to conclude the alliance, Russia had already launched the first attack.
Going west from Narva is Reval, the most important city in Livonia. It was once ruled by Russia and is now an important northern port in Livonia.
The commander of Narva pointed to the map and said, "General, Reval strengthened their defenses after we withdrew. Now the city walls here are very strong and it will take at least a month to defeat them."
Grushenko, who was in charge of the northern offensive, felt that a month was too long. You know, this time he brought 20,000 troops, not only to defeat Reval, but also to go south to occupy Riga. More importantly, after taking down Reval, the army in Finland can go south faster.
As an important diplomatic achievement of Mihaly, the Finnish region began to be governed. In addition to establishing the Finnish Province, a port was also built in the south, and the abundant local timber became the main source of income. At the same time, the Sami people in the north were gradually assimilated by Russia. They began to join the army and make money through business.
Grushenko pointed to the icon of Reval and asked, "How many defenders are there here?"
"I'm afraid there will be no less than 4,000 people, because they value this place very much. If this place is gone, they will only have Riga, the port, to trade."
"More than 4,000 people, if they meet with another army, then the enemy troops in the south of Reval will be nearly 210,000." Grushenko said slowly.
Everyone looked solemn. They knew that the Tsar had already set out for Minsk, and this army would not have any soldiers to help for the time being, so everything had to rely on themselves.
Grushenko also looked solemn. He knew that no matter how brave the Russian army was, it would not be possible to take Reval in a short time, because according to reconnaissance, the Livonian army had been training for a long time, and the army had been fighting since the founding of the country, and it was definitely not as easy to deal with as the Kazan people.
He stared at the map, thought for a long time, pointed to the south of Reval, and said: "Tomorrow, I will lead my troops to camp here, and then see if the situation can induce the army in the south of the city to fight with us!"
Others agreed, Grushenko slapped the table and said: "This matter is settled! Tomorrow morning, I will set out with an army! You hurry up to attack the city, and you must take Reval no matter what you use."
"Yes"
The next morning, the Russian army officially started the attack.
This time they used 40 artillery to bomb Reval, because the Tsar had ordered that they only wanted the land, not the people. So their attack was particularly brave.
"Charge! For the Tsar!"
The soldiers rushed forward, and the defenders used everything they could to stop their attack.
"Shoot!!!"
On the city wall, the officer's order was issued, and the archer pulled the bowstring diagonally upward, like a crescent moon, spraying out iron wires, drawing countless arcs in the air, carrying their own weight and the curse of the god of death, swooping down with a roar.
A round of crossbow arrows, with muffled sounds and screams, rushed into the flesh, splashing countless gorgeous blood flowers, and lives were instantly shattered.
However, at this time, the siege troops quickly arrived under the city wall, quickly set up the ladder, and began to climb up. The heavy battering ram was also pushed to the city gate with all their strength, hitting the city gate again and again. "Bang bang!" The sound of the city gate continued.
The resistance of the soldiers defending the city did not scare off the attackers, but only made the siege soldiers climb up the city wall more frantically.
Siege ladders were pushed down and set up again. A series of siege soldiers stared with scarlet eyes, fearlessly climbing up, and the battering ram hit the heavy city gate again and again, and the "bang bang" sounded all over Reval.
This battle lasted from morning to night. The siege army relied on their numerical advantage to attack repeatedly. They climbed up the city wall many times and were driven down many times, forming a tug-of-war. The city gate was filled with burned and smashed equipment and corpses, which raised the soil under the city wall by several meters.
In today's battle, the Russian army lost 1,800 people, and the defenders also suffered 700 casualties. Both sides are waiting for the arrival of the third day. They are confident that the victory will be decided in the shortest time.
In the early morning of the third day, dark clouds covered the rising sun, and the whole earth was gray. After a day of fierce fighting, the soldiers guarding the city were tired and fell asleep against the city wall, leaving only a few sentinels vigilantly trying to open their eyes, looking anxiously at the enemy camp covered by the morning mist.
Early morning is the time when people are most vigilant and paralyzed, and even the soldiers on guard can't help but occasionally get confused. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the arrow tower of the city tower seemed to be trembling slightly.
Dang! Dang! Dang! The sentinels desperately rang the alarm bell, which echoed in the sky in the early morning. All the defenders stood up and rushed to the city wall.
Suddenly, a huge shout of killing sounded, and all the siege formations rushed towards the city wall. They ignored the crossbows fired from the city wall and concentrated their bombardment with artillery.
There were continuous explosions outside the city gate. A group of soldiers had squatted behind the city gate. They all looked nervous, but no one retreated. Sweat kept flowing down, and they didn't care at all. Another explosion came, and a big hole had been blown out of the city gate. Before it was over, the second explosion blew the city gate open at an astonishing speed!
"Attack, charge in!"
Seeing a hole, the Russian army immediately rushed into the city. They launched a large-scale cleanup in the outer city, and all the soldiers or civilians who had not had time to escape or were still on the way to escape were sent to see God. The situation on the city wall was not much better, and the soldiers could only retreat to a more advantageous place in the city for defense.
The outer city wall was almost completely occupied, and the residents immediately fell into panic. They ran around desperately, but most of them could only become the souls under the sword of the Russians.
Their advancement speed was so fast, and with the assistance of artillery outside the city, it was simply like adding wings to a tiger! Soon most of the areas of Reval fell.
The defenders retreated to Reval Castle for defense, but how could the Russian army let it go? The transferred artillery kept firing shells at the castle, one after another, and also brought more powerful siege equipment. The castle gate was shaky, and the soldiers tried their best to resist the gate. If it was broken, it would be all over.