Unknown Knight

This time there was not much tug-of-war bargaining. King Gryfus came to the negotiations in an almost open manner, which showed his sincerity. Aix also wanted to end the hostility between the two countries as soon as possible and get rid of the predicament of being attacked from both sides.

In the end, Aix gave up the occupied Ami Castle for two thousand gold coins, and sold the captured Rhodok soldiers back to King Gryfus at market price, and received a ransom of five thousand gold coins in exchange for the Rhodok Kingdom's recognition of the Sarand Emirate's occupation of Migach Castle and the surrounding plains.

It is hard to say who suffered a loss and who gained an advantage in this armistice agreement. Most political matters are like this, and are the result of mutual compromise. Both sides are quite satisfied with the result, and the agreement was reached smoothly. Temporary calm was restored on the border between the two countries.

On the side of Calaf Castle, Aix was becoming more and more troubled. Although the threat behind him was temporarily resolved, the fortress in front of him was like a hard bone. He would surely be able to withstand a strong attack, but it would definitely break his teeth and the gain would not outweigh the loss. This situation made him hesitate, and he even considered whether to withdraw his troops. After all, there were nearly three thousand troops participating in the siege, and the daily consumption of so many troops was also huge.

On the morning of the fifth day after signing the armistice agreement with the Rhodok Kingdom, Aix led James and others to circle around the Calaf Castle. This was his daily routine. Like a wolf besieging its prey, he observed whether the enemy made any mistakes so as to seize the opportunity at any time.

When they reached a corner of the fortress, James looked at the corner tower that suddenly rose due to the terrain and said:

"It would be great if the temperature could continue for a few days. Then this corner tower might develop cracks due to the tension of the high temperature. I've seen this happen to the walls of Harma before. We can then use catapults to launch rocks and attack this place. Maybe it will collapse. But now is the coldest time of the year, so it's impossible for the temperature to be so high."

James's words were unintentional, but they successfully attracted the attention of the listener Axe. In the original world, he had read an article in a military forum, saying that a British king once used forty fat pigs to capture a strong fortress.

At first glance, this article seems a bit far-fetched, but it is actually not that complicated. It simply uses the principle of thermal expansion and contraction. In addition, due to the underdeveloped science and technology in ancient times, taller buildings would have unreasonable structures and uneven stress in some areas.

The British king dug holes under the unreasonable parts of the castle's structure and then set fire to forty fat pigs. The fat on the pigs could continuously provide fuel, causing the castle to continue to heat up and create huge tension. It was this tension that magnified the unreasonable architectural defects of the castle's structure and ultimately led to its collapse.

Axe looked carefully at the nearby Calaf Castle. The corner tower that James mentioned was squeezed between the walls on both sides. The walls had begun to tilt slightly outward, but the degree was not obvious. At first glance, it seemed that it was just an illusion caused by the corner tower being too high. There were even cracks in several places, but the cracks were not big.

Although such a situation has hidden dangers, it can develop slowly under natural conditions and last for eight or ten years or even dozens of years without any problem. If the castle owner makes some repairs, the wall may not collapse for hundreds of years. However, it will be different if it is induced by external factors. The continued high temperature in summer mentioned by James, supplemented by the attack of catapults, is one way of doing it.

Although it is not summer now, it is not a problem for Aix. As long as the temperature is high enough, it will cause collapse. The soldiers on his side have experience in standing forts and are very good at digging holes. With several shifts working, it will take only a few days to dig a hole under Fort Calaf, and then they can just follow the ready-made example.

After thinking for a while, Aix immediately instructed his quartermaster:

"I want to host a banquet for all the soldiers. You must return to Shariz City now and order the city to purchase 200 fat sheep. Remember, they must be fat sheep. If they are not fat, we will not accept them. You can buy fat directly from the butcher. You must personally do this and make sure it is done. Go ahead."

Then, Axe returned to the camp and had a secret discussion with James in the tent. Then, under the leadership of James, the entire camp began to act according to the plan.

With the soldiers working in shifts day and night, the army dug a tunnel of nearly 100 meters in just three days. If the enemy in the fortress had not noticed, it would have been possible for them to attack directly through the tunnel.

On the second day, the quartermaster who went back to the city for procurement returned. Under his personal supervision, the two hundred sheep purchased were all adult fat sheep, and two large carts of fat from various livestock were also bought.

Due to the local climate and religious beliefs, few people raise pigs here, but the fat from sheep can also be burned. Ax was afraid that it would not be enough, so he specifically ordered the quartermaster to buy two hundred sheep and two large carts of fat. The fat obtained from slaughtering these sheep was enough.

Soon the whole camp became noisy, sweeping away the depression of the siege under the scorching heat and the oppression of the epidemic. The camp was filled with laughter and joy. Everyone was eating freshly roasted mutton and drinking refreshing beer, as if the Calaf Fort had been breached.

It is just a bit regrettable that the juicy parts of the sheep such as the tail and fat did not appear on the table. They were all removed without leaving a single piece, together with the two large carts of various fats, and were pulled to the entrance of the tunnel and transported to the tunnel under the Karaf Castle.

With a loud "bang", the whole earth shook, and the incendiary petrol used for ignition exploded in the tunnel. The blast wave knocked over the soldiers who had lit the incendiary petrol fuse at the tunnel entrance.

After the earth trembled, the sheep fat piled up in the tunnel began to burn continuously. Under this continuous burning, the relatives of Chief Mondhari who were defending in Calaf Fort found that the entire fortress began to heat up, especially near the corner tower on the south side. It was as hot as a furnace and they could not stand at all, otherwise their shoes would smoke.

This made Chief Mondhari, who rushed over after hearing the news, panic. He quickly asked people to fetch water to cool down the temperature, but it was of no use. The rising water mist was so hot that people could not open their eyes. They had to stand far away and let the temperature continue to rise.

As time went by, the increasingly high temperature caused the people inside the fortress to develop an inexplicable fear of the unknown. Being ignorant, they had never seen such a "supernatural" scene before. They stretched their necks and clamped their legs together, watching in horror as the rolling heat waves, as if real, spread out from the south corner tower.

Suddenly, there was a loud "crackling" sound, followed by a "boom and crash", and the south corner tower collapsed in an instant. This unprecedented scene caused everyone in the fortress to scream in shock. Some people were even too frightened and couldn't help but urinate. The scene was filled with a foul smell and everyone was crying.